Bair: I am not aware of any information, any scientific information that would suggest that radiation has caused the problem. sensitive to radiation. The problem is probably Plants are not very one of the amount of nutrient in the soil and to answer your question you will have to contact somebody who 7s an expert in raising and growing plants. Marshallese from Wotho: Well, I just want to repeat that it was 1946 that we began having bombs. TAPE 6, SIDE 1 Ray: (note a few words lost due to changing tape)...and they all lead to the conclusion that, that plants in general are very resistant to these levels of radiation. Robison: It would take... All the data from all the plants that have been studied indicate that it takes hundreds and hundreds of times more radiation than what we are talking about here to see an effect. Marshallese: So, I understand your reply, but then of course we still have the obvious question, "what has caused this?" want to know why it has been this way. This is a condition and we Since the time of the bomb tests our arrowroot has not produced, and we really want to know what has caused that, then. Ray: Well, I am sure we share that and would like to know too. We do not have any clue in all of the knowledge that we have about effects of radiation on plants. cause. We just don't have any indication that that is the We too wonder what the cause might be. Marshallese: I wonder why it is that the people came and tested bombs in our area before knowing the effects that it would be, for our people and our land. Why didn't you conduct some experiments in other, you know, places before you did that? It seems rather presumptuous (Alice: - DOE ARCHIVE That's