DRAFT
i
MARSHALL ISLANDS CHRONOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
This draft chronology presents the historical record of eveng relating to the
Department of Energy/Energy Research and Development Admigistration/Atomic
Energy Commission (DOE/ERDA/AEC) medical, environmental, and rpdiological safety
activities in the Marshall Islands from 1946 to 1990. Among the milestones included
are agreements between the Marshallese and the United States,
garticularly those
involving the DOE and its predecessors; relocation and resettlement efforts; legal
responsibilities assumed by the AEC, the ERDA, and the DOE; admihistration of U.S.
governmentactivities in the islands; medical findings; environmentalBtudies; radiation
safety criteria applied in the Marshalls and in the U.S.; and U.SI
activities in the region.
nuclear testing
In order to facilitate use of the chronology by those interest#d in a particular
aspect of developments in the Marshall Islands, we have assigned qach entry one or
more topical headings from the following list:
ADMINISTRATION
AGREEMENT
CLAIMS
CONGRESSIONAL RELATIONSHIP
CONTRACTOR
LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY
MEDICAL
POLICY
PLUTONIUM
RADIATION
RELOCATION
WEAPON TESTING
By selecting only those entries under a specific heading, one{can follow more
directly the story of any area of particular interest, such as the DOE medical program,
governmentpolicy, or legal responsibility.
In developing this chronology, History Associates searched ]l) records in the
DOE Archives in Germantown,including the AEC Secretariatfiles,
ision of Biology
and Medicinefiles, the Joe Deal and Tommy McCraw collections, aswell as a number
of other collections; 2) records held by Environment, Safety,
and Health (EH),
including the files turned over by John Rudolph (DP) and by Management (AD); 3)
files from the Nevada Operations Office made available to us byJHarry Brown; 4)
Joint Committee on Atomic Energy (JCAE) records at the Nationalf Archives; 5) the
document collection at the Coordination and Information Centar in Las Vegas,
Nevada;
5) U.S. Statutes at Large, and 6) Executive Orders of thé President.
The