Giff Johnson, a free-lance writer who has traveled extensively
throughout the Pacific, edits the Micronesia Bulletin
published in Honolulu, Hawaii 96826.
1
by the early 1970s a few people had
begun moving back.
Many Bikinians tell of Atomic Energy Commission scientists taking
them to Bikini to demonstrate its
Pat ee OCR
safety. When the Bikinians refused
to eat any local foods. fearing radia-
tion exposure. the scientists would
consume conconuts, fish and other
foods in front of the islanders to
convince them.'' In 1972, however,
the Bikinians expressed doubts
about the safety of their atoll] and
voted not to return home. But the
goverment was committed to the
een se
FF
~
%
TRUST TERRITORY OF THE
PACIFIC ISLANDS
t
i
/
E
f
(2,14) islands:
resettlement and offered Marshal-
."
lese government employees free
food and housing if they would move
to Bikini.
Dunng an Atomic Energy Com-
{ Population: 24,248
j Area: 9-84 square mules Smee |
Tota! Wind
penekoes,aes
mission survey of the more than 100
SN
Inbabited aiotis und separate isinnds: 110
people iiving on the atoll in 1975, the
‘“‘presence of low levels of
plutonium” in their urine was discovered. The Commission, and later
the Derartment of Energy. did not
consider
this
‘‘radiologically
significant.’''? By 1977, tests showed
an 11-fold increase in the people's
bady burdens of cestum-137. Rather
than remove the population from a
hazardous environment, however,
“Nee
toeplein
: 2
NO
Oceas ares: @ 3,008,000 square mikes
Tand area: 700 square miles
|
——
i “
the Department of Energy suggested
that the Trust Territory government
institute a complete feeding pro-
Bram. to reduce consumption of
local foods, and thus exposure.
The Department seemed reluctant
to give up what one Lawrence
Livermore Laboratory study called
“possibly the best available source
of data for evaluating the transfer of
plutonium across the gut wall after
being incorporated into biological
systems.'"'3 The situation deteriorated further and by May 1978.
a high percentage of the Marshallese
body levels were above the
Maximum permissible dose allowed
in the United States. The Bikinians
were evacuated again.
26
/
.
.
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