Rongelap 100 miles away, the detonation of the bomb was awe-inspiring an 4 caused considerable concern. The flash of detonation illuminated the islan J as at midday. Thelarge, red fireball looked like the sun rising in the wes.. This light was followed moments later by the thunderous roar of th: concussion, knocking out windows and shaking coconuts from the tree... Several hours later, the sky became murky, and a snow-like powderfell fcr a numberof hours.It left a white coating on everything, and someofit stuc< on the skin and gotinto the hair. Many complainedcf lacrimation anditchin ; and burning sensations of the skin. During the first day or so, most of th: people had nausea, and a few vomited and had diarrhea. Fallout c. Rongerik, where the American servicemen were, was less, and none w:: eren 166 visible on Utirik, 200 miles to the east. No symptoms were observablein th. people on these islands. Injury resulted from penetrating whole-body gamr:. radiation, spotty irradiation of the skin from deposits of fallout, and intern: '! absorption of radionuclides, mainly from the ingestion of contaminated foo . and water. The 86 people on Rongelap received the greatest exposure, up 1.75 Gy (175 rad) from gammaradiation, skin doses of several thousandra:. of soft beta radiation, and internal absorption of radionuclides, the mos important of which were radioiodines. The latter resulted in thyroid dose cs cP at Re Pe ROTOR 8 FeNA Ke comrenc en nS RONLMT OO gH AT: Tele ee in young children.” The 157 people on the island of Utirik received muc: smaller doses than did the residents of Rongelap. Although the dosesfror. internal emitters might have been less had the people taken precautionar: measures to avoid ingestion or inhalation of the radioactive fallout, a lack o radio communication with their islands contributed to their not being advisec in a timely fashion to do so. The doses received were sublethal. Early effects in the Rongelap people consisted of transient gastrointestinal symptoms, temporary depression 0: blood elements (white cells and platelets), numerous “burns” of the skin, anc epilation, which healed within a few months.’ During the past 36 years since the accident, except for the developmentof thyroid abnormalities producec by exposure to radioactive iodine in the fallout, few positive findings have been related to radiation exposure. Fertility, based on birth rate, has been about the samein the exposed as in the unexposed populations examined. One death from leukemia was probably related to radiation exposure. The development of brain tumors in three exposed women were questionably related to radiation exposure. Total mortality and mortality from cancer has been about the samein both the exposed and unexposed groups. Nogenetic effects have been detected in the children of exposed people. The most widespread late effects of their radiation exposure have been the development of thyroid abnormalities, consisting of benign and malignant neoplasms and hypofunction of the thyroid gland associated with growth retardation in some of the Rongelap children. About one-third of ‘the Rongelap people, a lesser number of Utirik, and a few of the unexposed people have developed thyroid neoplasia. Surgical removal of the neoplasms has been carried out in U.S. hospitals with few complications. No deaths have occurred related to thyroid problems. The use of thyroid hormone treatment ai ranging up to 10 Gy (1000 rad) in the adults and more than 50 Gy (5000 rac