3 epeet ag ao ary ref, ~~» Lares oe © ako 7 9 tsametetenne_samcitg SALT Mie TT a men Be ee = ‘ee -£ 7 ai at already moved back to the southem islands. which the Agency calls “relatively uncontaminated.” Meanwhile. the Department of Energy savs the atoll’s northern islands—where the majority of the 43 nuclear tests occurred—should be off limits for at least 30 years, since radiation levels are still high there. Because of the Departmentruling, The Enewetak people have an intense desire to return home, after 33 years on tiny Ujelang Atoll. And on the basis of this information. the Enjebi people voted to return to their island in the north. But the objectiv- ity of the study conducted by Bender and Brill, whose base is the government-funded Brookhaven National Laboratory, has been questioned. Dr. Rosalie Bertell, a consultant to the Division of Stan- aaaacs > +. =e ee bs o ae a Brookhaven researchers assess U.S. govemment data. .. . The historyof the U.S. testing program was one of repeated mistakes and miscalculations."’ In his view, ‘*nangovernment radiation experts” should be included tn all such surveys.§ A May 1979 General Accounting Office report cautioned that ‘‘be- millions of dollars have been spent on building houses and community facilities and on_ replanting dard Setting for the Nuelear Reguthousands of coconut trees in the latory Commission, said of the southern islands: but no funds have study: been used to rehabilitate the north**The population of Enewetak has erm islands. This has caused prob- the night to knowthat a value judglems among the Enewetak people as, ment has been madefor them, traditionally. they are divided into namely that induction of cancerts two distinct groups: the Dri-Enjebi in their only concern. They may, if inthe northern and Dri-Enewerah in formed about hypothyroidism, apthe south. Accustomed to their own lastic anemia. premature aging. be- cause of uncertainty of the long term effects of exposure to low level radiation, it is possible that the people of Enewetak could receive doses in excess of current standards.”’ It also urged an independent assessment of Enewetak by ‘‘experts who have no direct connections with the nuclear testing program or the Enewetak reluctant to live on another chief's land. political reasons. chiefs and land, the Dri-Enjebi are nign tumors and other such dis- orders, make a different judgment. They ‘reduced’ the radiation dose cleanup project .. . before resettle- ment of the people begins.‘ This report wasinitially withheld from the Marshall] Islands government for Since deporting an independent team of Japanese scientists invited by Marshall Islands leaders to in- In September 1979, the radiologi- of the inhabitants of Enjebi by avcal information about Enewetak was eraging in the population less exvestigate the radiation problems in presented by the Departmentof En- posed. This is like telling one 1971, the United States has steadergy to the people. Michael Bender member of a family his or her risk of fastly refused to allow independent and Bertrand Brill, two scientists hired by Micronesian Legal Services then testified that their study showed all the islands to be safe for habitation. including northern Enjebi Isjand. The chances of adverse effects were so small, they had concluded, that ‘‘cancer mortality in the lifetime of the population is estimated to be less than a single case.""5 They asserted that the Department of Energy overstated the nsk: **DOE tends to exaggerate the problem,’’ said Mic- ronesian Legal Service Director Ted Mitchell.* lung canceris lowered if the other nonsmoking members of the family are included and an ‘average’ nsk given. It ts a scientifically ndiculous approach to public health. Basing a resettlement decision af- monitoring of the Marshallese people and their environment. President Lyndon Johnson an- nounced in 1968 that Bikint~site of 23 bomb tests—wouild be retumed to its people, who had been hving in fecting the lives of 800 people on the exile since 1946. In 1969, the Atomic Energy Com- prudent."”’ radiation left on Bikini'' and “the Corps Volunteer in the Marshalls. said the problem is ‘‘the inherent threat to their health and safety.”'° A small-scale cleanup and re- December 1980 The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 25 Bender and Brill inadequate health assessment would be extremely im- mission said: ‘(there is} virtually no exposures to radiation of the Bikini Glen Alcalay, a former Peace people do not offer a significant conflict of interest in having habilitation program was begun and eeeTt