NOTE 16
CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS
Henry I. Kohn,
16 Nov 89
}
CHouse Subcommittee on Insular & International
Longuorth House Office Building, 16 Nov 89.)
Affairs,
room
1324,
I am Henry I. Kohn, appointed by RepMar to review the DOE-1982
on the habitability of Rongelap Island. This was done in
Report
accordance with
section
103Ci2.
considered
other
the
Compact
of Free Association Act,
pertinent
information available at
them {Preliminary Report, April
Report,
March
Public Law 99-239,
In addition to DOE-1982, my Reassessment
° 89].
388;
,
the
Report, July °88;
Reparts
time
of
Corrected
writing
I have now been asked to comment on the Proposal by the
Rongelap people - that they be given $6.6 million to set up an expert
committee which in the course of 1.5 years would make a comprehensive
health and radiologic investigation of themselves and their Atoli. The
results would be used by a succeeding expert committee to evolve and
execute a plan to make Rongelap Atoll
CProposed
Let us consider some of the reasons given in the Proposal.
Workplan For A Phase 2 Comprehensive Study, P & D
Technalogies,
that
1989).
‘
Ci] The QOE-1982 Report
Rangelap Island is "safe".
£2] A complete
detailed
made for every Rpongelap citizen
and urinary plutonium analysis).
given
to
infants
and
small
[33 The radiation
individually.
citizen
dose
C4) Additional soil
for proper dosimetry.
should
be
C5] The Bramlitt
field-tested.
delaying
health
should
its
dosimetric
evaluation should
have
been
data
soil-decontamination
socio-economic
conclusian
have
been
estimated
for
each
from ali
process
factors
for
islands
15
plutonium
should
have
My general conclusion is that such a vast plan is unnecessary,
it could not be accomplished in 1.5 years: it would result in
the
return
First.
to
Rongelap
Island.
-
The Congress specified that the habitability of-
Rongelap Island - not Atol? - was to be
1ssue, therefore, is to estimate dosage
for now and for the future.
900016
in
(e.g. including chromosome analysis
Special attention should have been
contamination
C6) Radiation-sensitive
defined and evaluated.
and that
was wrong
children.
needed
been
"safe" for habitation.
examined. The immediate crucial
from residence on that island
Second.
The Reassessment Project found that the dase due 9
residence an Rongelap Istand was within the permissible range [less
than 5 rem in 30 years] whether based an the data suppi:ed dv the
Brookhaven or the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The tus
-4a-