* should be noted that while the team included an expert on radiation “ ite aff -srts, if Jig net oresume to take up a hichly technical role. “<< This was essentially a church visitation team sent as an expression cf church concern, willing to listen to all persons and groups having siaqnificant messages about that situation. We saw our role to be interpretive, reflective, consultative and directed towards a clearer, mcre Relpful response on the part of the churches. ty "2 ot O then te “nong the categories of people we encountered were: people displaced om their land, groups that experienced high levels of radioactive allout, people living in “tempcerary" homes or are affected be- ause their land is continually used for US presence and missile asting, officials of the Marshall Islands Governments and other clitical leaders, church leaders, a lawyer, medical doctors, issionaries, an anthropologist, US officials and civilian employees t Kwajalein and American scientists from Lawrence Livermore National aboratories. ii, RADIATION AND RELATION QUESTIONS In the 37 years since the atom bomb was first "dropped" on the harshalls at Bikini, the lives of not only the exiles from their tomelond (Bikini and Enewetok), or the groups irradiated, but the 7 ¢ oa lives of all Marshallese have been radically altered. The effects < radiation pervade their existence far beyond the readily observ-Sle and reported health and environmental effects associated with me extensive US nuclear weapons testing program in the Marshalls. Tiday, in the broad sense, "radiation" is a basic, pervading reality for all Marshallese pecple. iv..cdeed, a new culture, vocabulary and mythology have developed eround the radiation question. Whenever there is a physical Sebility, a.birth anomaly or other abnormality, the people tend to believe that such had not occurred before "The Bomb", Cases of fish poisoning, unusual plant disease, the demise of the highly valued arrowrcot plant (a traditional staple), seem invariably to be attributed to radiation, even though this is contrary to scientific evidence. Myth cr reality, these anxieties and fears are vainfully real, and they are a consequence of the testing program. The radiation question is a difficult one, even for scientists who have been working with it for many years. Many dedicated US scientists have been involved in an extensive effort over many years to assess and treat the effects of radiation exposure of Marshallese and to menitor the residual radioactivity contaminating many of the islands in the northern atolls. It would appear that they have performed with a reasonable of with honesty, and in most cases -- particularly in recent years -- level competence. Nevertheless, it is always possible to identify areas where more attention should have been focused. Two such areas which have become critically important are (i) the education of the Marshallese on the nature of radiation and ats human and environmental cffect and (ii) providing adequate medical care and compensation for victims of the atomic bomb test. Related to the first area the recent US Department of Energy (DOE) rooks on the radioactive contamination of Enewetok, Bikini and the northern atolls have been almost totally ineffective, and in some - we -