. . . A number of laboratories in the U. S. were involved in these followup studies. Brookhaven National Laboratory (New York) and the Laboratory of Radioecology, University of Washington (Seattle) were the prime contractors for the medical and environmental monitoring programs, respectively. These studies were “7 instrumental in making the decision to allow the return of the Utirik and ( Rongelap inhabitants to their islands 120 days and 3 year evacuation. r-–—--Since their retue e medical and environmental monitoring programs~ ~. ~. a. re still in progress, have indicated: of regions exhibiting radiation levels above the natural background for these islands (Co 67),% ! b. that food items obtained locally, such as coconuts, coconut crabs, pandanus, breadfruit, etc., have accumulated fallout radionuclides, and as a result certain items have been restricted from their diets (Co 67) , c. the occurrence of thyroid nodules in the exposed populations (Co 66). The confidence of the Marshallese that their situation is safe has been further jeopardized by the following situations: a. the visit of Japanese scientists who described the experience of their populations following exposure to nuclear bombs, which led the Marshallese to feel that the United States (u. S.) had deliberately exposed them, so that it could conduct research on the effects of radiation exposure on human beings, and therefore they were indeed ‘guinea pig’. b. w their involuntary residence on islands where radiation is higher than ? natural background, since the decision to leave or return was not theirs, c. their naive interpretation of radiation as the cause of diverse prob- lems, such as, -3- \ (