~2la. The people of Utirik are different from the people of Rongelap-- Ib. The people of Utirik were exposed to different levels of radiation than the people of Rongelap--Utirik had 14 rads they are a different gene pool and breeding population. and Rongelap had 175 rads. Despite the slight genetic difference between the two populations, the Rongelap contro} group was considered adequate and, hence, there was no reason to select a separate comparison group for Utirik. lc. There were different return times for the Utirik peopte and the Rongelap people from Kwajalein (following their evaluation} in 1954--the people of Utirik returned to their atoll] after three months and the people of Rongelap returned to their atoll after three years. : After the evacuation of the Utirik people and after their examination at Kwajalein, it was determined that they should remain away from their atoll so long as the 1954 test series continued. Although extraordinary care was taken to prevent a recurrence of the March 1954 accident, the extra precaution of delaying the return of the people to Utirik was considered to be in their best interest. Soon after the 1954 test series was completed in May 1954, their return was authorized. In the case of Rongelap, however, because the fallout had been much heavier than at Utirik, it was three years before the radiation decayed to levels which were acceptable for resettlement. Id. Would it be correct to say that perhaps the Utirik people received more than only 14 rads in light of their quick return time to Utirik? There Is a critical difference between the estimated radiation dose and the incidence of thyroid nodules and cancer between exposed people of Rongelap and Utirik. khereas the dose to the Rongelap people was more than 10 times higher than the dose received by the Utirik people, the incidence of thyroid cancers is not significantly different. Although we have no indication that the estimated dose was seriously in error, we are presently looking into the possibility of reexamining available information on the exposures on Utirik. We are specifically interested in determining whether the early return of the people of Utirik has affected their exposure history. .