DOE F 12258
S DOE ARCHIVES
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p6US. ATOMIC ENERGY
OMMISSION
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
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memorandum
HPV10 pp30 Collection _| SAO ~ -__
ON Marshalls Surpey
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suBsect Meeting RaXpon/ep-Northerii
- Majuro Atoll, December g-9,
to
1982 Foicer No ile
407815
James De Francis, CP-2
Per your instructions, I attended the subject meeting.
Ed Patterson had
informed me that he had given Roger Ray the responsibility to act as
the
agency spokesman and to answer questions.
I was to be an observer.
A copy
of annotated notes taken during the meeting and a list of attendees are
attached. No representative from the Trust Territory attended the meeting
.
The Marshallese/English book prepared for presentation of the survey and the
UCRL technical report on the survey results were well received in Majuro.
During the formal briefing on the book and in the question and answer
sesSions that followed, a number of requests were heard for additional
information. Other than agreeing to provide available radiological data and
to pass along those requests that should be directed to the Department of
Defense and to the Government of the Marshall Islands, no new commitments
for additional work by DOE were made.
The earlier agreement to provide the
Northern Marshalls survey results to the populations of the surveyed atolls
and islands was reaffirmed. The responses to technical questions by Dr.
Bair (health effects and risks), and by Dr. Robison (data collection,
analysis, and dose assessment) were very precise and tailored to the
audience. Roger Ray was very effective in responding to questions on the
purpose and findings of the survey and in keeping the participants on the
intended subject.
There was one aspect of the meeting in Majuro that I found very disturbing.
This involves agency policy on radiation protection in the Marshalls. The
past policy has been to view DOE's responsibilities in the Marshalls as
limited in scope and directed primarily toward providing radiological
advice and asspstance to the Department of the Interior and to the High
Commissioners
of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, advice that has
been thoroughly coordinated within this agency. This advice has emphasized,
as a U.S. Government position, application of Federal and jinternational
radiation protection standards in decisions on radiation exposure issues in
the Marshalls for which the U.S. Government is responsible. This position
has been reviewed and accepted in numerous congressional hearings in which
DOE has assisted DOI and the Department of Defense in obtaining approval of
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a
es
(7-79)
their radiation protection plans and programs. EPA has informed DOI that
U.S. Standards do apply to U.S. activities in the Marshalls.
In his answers
to questions regarding radiation safety and the restrictions that DOI has
urged the Marshallese to follow on use of food from certain islands at
Rongelap and Enewetak that have highky contamination levels, Roger Ray's
statements were not compatible with past policy. Advice was given directly
to the Marshallese representatives that changed and, in the perception of
some, voided past restrictions. To my knowledge, these changes were not
coordinated with anyone in EP, GC, CP, CHER, or with DOI. The Marshallese
bo
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