By 1957, radiological surveys indicated that, in spite of slight lingering radioactivity. Rongelap Atoll was safe for habitation. A completely new village was constructed, and in July the Rongelap people, more than doubled in number bytheinflux of relatives, were taken there on an LST with _all their personal belongings, bed mats, and livestock. After arrival ceremonies they happily settled down tolife in their new village. In March 1958 the survey was carried out for the first time at Rongelap; subsequent annual examinations have been done mostly at Rongelap with supplementary visits to other islands. The Utirik people, after the initial examinations, were next examined on their homeisland in 1957. They have since been examined only about once every 3 years because their fallout exposure was minimal. The American servicemen have not been seen by our medical team since theinitial examinations. . During recent years the Rongelap and Utirik people have moved in large numbersto thedistrict centers at Majuro and particularly Ebeye (Kwajalein Atoll), where many are employed by the Kwajalein Missile Range. This had necessitated examinations at Majuro and Ebeyein addition to their homeislands. (Table ! shows the present geographical distribution of the people.) The manystudies that have been done on the Marshallese are directly or indirectly related to possible radiation effects. Often a single blood sample drawn for routine hematology has been used for manytests. Multiple blood sampling has been avoided wheneverpossible. C. 1970-1974 SURVEYS During the past 5 years a numberof problems havearisen: thyroid abnormalities continued to develop in the exposed Rongelap peoplein spite of hormonetreatment; an exposed Rongelap boy died from leukemia that may or may not have been related to radiation exposure; transportation deteriorated; and political interference was started which has been particularly frustrating and has threatened to put a stop to the medical supervision and care provided to the exposed people by the medical team. In 1972, following the death from leukemia, the decision was madethat more frequent hematological examinations of the exposed people were needed, and therefore such examinations werein- stituted every Septemberin addition to the March survey. Also in 1972, the decision was madeto place a resident physician in the Marshall Islands. Anincreasing number of exposed Rongelap people were developing thyroid nodules, most of which required surgical intervention, and many of them were not adhering strictly to the thyroid treatment program, which is considered extremely important, especially after surgery. A resident physician would be able to monitor this program and, since the Trust Territory was short on medical personnel, could assist in general health care of the Rongelap and Utirik people. The planis for such a physician to alternate between BNL and the Marshall Islands every two years. Thefirst one has just completed a 2-year term, and anotheris taking his place soon. Transportation has always been a major problem for the medical survey teams. Air transportation to the Pacific improved greatly with the advent of thejet plane, but travel by ship among the Marshall Islands (several hundred miles betweenatolls through roughseas) has remaineddifficult. The travel problem has been magnified by the need for the resident physician to visit Rongelap and Utirik quarterly, and by the added responsibility of the medical team, since 1971, for radiation monitoring of Bikini and more recently of Eniwetok, since the people displaced by the bombtesting program are Table 1 Location of Rongelap and Utirik People, 1974 Rongelap exposed Rongelap unexposed Utirik exposed Total Rongelap Utirik Majuro Ebeye Bikini Other Total 31 37 - 41 5 14 43 24 65 22 7 - 6 8 10 66 131 116 68 41 62 11 7 24 313 -