Becauseliving conditions deteriorated further the United States instituted small trust funds. For the Bikinians, the trust fund yielded semi-annual interest payments of approximately $15 per person. lier showed a marked increase in the amount of radioactive nuchdes in the people's bodies. These tests show that tne Bikinians were ingesting higher than acceptable concentrations of cancer-causing radiation trom tne Water und from food grown in the island's contaminated soil. The U.5. government then began importing all food texcept local fish. which was declared safe) and dnnk to Bikini. This food program has compounded the Bikini dilemma: While the Bikinians have been told that the island ts radioactive and po- tentiails dangerous. the prospect of tree food and housing and a chance to move trom Kili—caltled the “prison bv residents—has encour- aged peuple to return, In eurty 1978. the Energy Research ind Development Association considered moving the peopie to another island in Bikini Atolli— were S$ to 6 times higher than expected. Throughout the rehabilitation of Bikim. the Energy Research and Development Association and the Department of Energy had conducted countless radiological survevs of the island—many of which suggest the Bikinians were unwitting subjects for scientific radiation tests. A recent study for the Department of Energy concluded that ‘Bikini Atoll may be the unly global source of data on humans where intake via ingestion is thought to contribute the major fraction of plutonium body burden. A 1976 Lawrence Livermore Laboratory scientist stated that Bikini “is possibly the best available source of data for evaluating the transter ot piutonium across the gut Eneu— ind was growing fruits and wall after being incorporated into biological systems." sults trom these experiments, however, werent expected for about a year. mently deny they have used the Marshallese for expenmentation. A DOE official explained. “It was done by technical tvpes anxious to know vegetacies in an experimental garden to test radioactivity levels there. Re- According to a careful report in the Los Angeles Times. by February 1978 it was official government pol- icy: Bikint was untit for people to live on. Nevertheless. in Apnil, Trust Territory officials, testifying at a congressional hearing on funding for re-estaolishing the Bikinians on Eneu Island. insisted that the people could remain on Bikiniwithour harm unul the expenments on Eneu were completed in January 1979—pro- vided that they didn't eat any coconuts, and that the coming medi- cal tests showed. as was expected, no large increases in internal radia- tion levels. In the April 1978 medical examinations. however. the Bikinians’ internal radiation levels ranged up to 0.980. or nearly tuice the U.S. maximum safety standard of 0.5 rems. At the same time. the preliminary results from the expert- mental garden at Eneu Island showed that radioactivity levels Government scientists vehe- about the transfer of radioactive elements.” Intenor Department officials an- nounced in Mav 1978 that the atoll would be evacuated within 90 days. and the people returned to Kili Is- land. [n late August. Interior representatives went to Bikini to supervise the evacuation, in many ways reminiscent ot the 1946 removal. “There are some things we didn't feel good about,” said Taro Lokebal. who serves as liaison between the Bikini Council and the United States. “The (U.S.) High Commissioner made the people rush. ... Some things were left behind—pigs. chickens, lumber. We had to have our ceremony on the ship. It was supposed to be on the shore but we had no me.” Though the Bikinians. like the Enewetakese. sutfered the devastating physical and psvchologicai effects of relocation and, at umes. even near starvation, they had never suffered radiation exposure until they retumed to thetr radioactive Is- land atter 25 years. Now the BikiMians are an exposed population. too. And who knows what the future holds for the Enewetak people— many of whom have now retumed to their home atoll to work with thousands of U.S. armysoldiers in the massive nuclear debns cleanup. Until the scientific community and independent organizations begin cnttcally to monitor U.S. government agencies’ treatment of the Marshallese. their situation 1s not apt to change. From the nuclear bomb tesis at Bikini and Enewetak to the medical treatment of the irradiated islanders. the 30 years of Amenican trusteeship has brought the Marshallese anv- thing but the conditions promised in the U.N. trust agreement.— Conard. Robert A.. M.D., et al. A Taenrn Year Review of Medical Findines in a Murstadese Population Accidentady Evouset tu Radioactive Fallout, Brookhaven Nationait Laboratory. Washington. D.C. De- partment of Commerce. 1978; avatianie from National Technical Information Service. Coneress of Micronesta Special foint Committee Concerning Rungetap and Cris: 1973 Report. Kolonia, Ponape 9694i The Congress. Detrou Free Press. Sept. 2. 1978. Gensuikin (Japan) Medical Survey Team. Report on the [navestigation of Damage Done by the Bikint Hvdrogen Bomb Test to che Peooie of the Marsnall Islands. ve. ed. Tokvo. Japan: Gensurkin, 3th f.. Akimoto Bldg.. 2-19 Tsukasa-Che. Kanda. Chivoda-ku. Tokyo, 1973. Honolulu Advertiser, Oct. 10, 1978: June 16. 20. 21. and 22, 1977. March 19, 1978. Jury 30, 1978. International Herald Tribune, April i9. 1978. Kiste. Robert C. The ikimauns: A Study x Forced Migration. Menio Park, Ca.. Cummings Publishing Co.. 1974. Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. Dose 45- sessment at Bikint Atoll, UCRL-S1879 Pt £ Washington. D.C.: Department ot Commerce. June. 3. 1977: available from Na- tional Technical Information Service. Los Angeies Times, June 11, 1977. McHenry. Donaid F. Micronesta. Trust Besraved. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for [nternations: Peace, i975. Micronesian Independent. Sept. 12. 19° New York Times. March 23. 1978. Washington Post. Marca 23 and 2°. LOTR, April 3, 1978. February 1979 The Bulletin |