' Direct and Outside Influences on the Psychological Health of a Marshall Island Population Exposed to Radioactive Fallout Robert A. Conard Senior Scientist, Retired Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, New York “ INTRODUCTION In 1954, a serious fallout accident occurred during the U.S. Atomic Testing Program at Bikini in the Marshall Islands. Following the detonation of a large thermonuclear device, an unexpected shift in winds resulted in significant fallout exposure of 250 Marshallese, 28 American servicemen on atoils to the east, and 23 Japanese fishermen on their-vessel the Lucky Dragon. The people on the exposed islands were evacuated to a naval base at Kwajalein Atoll, where an emergency medical team, organized by the U.S. Navy at the request of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), carried out initial examinations on the exposed people.’ At the end_of the examinations, the U.S. Army continued the examinations of the servicemen in Hawaii. The island of Utink was considered safe for habitation at that time, and the people were returned to live there. However, Rongelap Island was too contaminated, and these people were moved to a temporary village at Majuro Atoll. In 1957, Rongelap was considered safe for habitation, and the people were moved back to a new village that had been constructed for them. The Japanese vessel returned to Japan, where the fishermen received treatment. Repercussions from the accident have been widespread. This report concerns some of the complex problems that developed in the aftermath of in contrast to the irradiation of the Japanese at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, much of which was caused by direct exposure to atomic detonations, the exposure of the Marshallese was caused entirely by fallout. To the people on Copynght 199) by Elsevier Science Publishing Company, Inc. The Medial Basis for Radiation- Accident Preparedness, I! Pome on ej MEDICAL FINDINGS nHaR the accident that influenced the psychological impact on the people’s exposure from fallout. The report is based largely on the author’s experiences during the 26 years that he visited the islands with medical teams to examine and care for the exposed Marshallese people. A brief review of the principal medical findings is presented below for background purposes. The findings have been published in detail in Brookhaven National Laboratory reports and in medical journals. Comprehensive reviews can be found in References 1-6, which refer to other reports as well.