—- Nations. a Qn September 7, 1983, the voters of the Marshall Compact of Free Association which, will if ratified grant self-government to the Marshall Islands approved by the U. S. Congress, Islands, while continuing United States financial and program aid for the next decade. The population of the Marshalls numbers some 33,000 persons. principal population centers are on Majuro Island, the capital The (Majuro Atoll), and Ebeye Island in Kwajalein Atoll, which is a missile range under the jurisdiction of the U. S. Army. On January 24, Bikinians. Thus ownership. as 1979, the U. S. conveyed Bikini Atoll back to the a legal matter, they possess all the rights of However, since the decontamination program for the atoll would be paid for by the U. S., it might be subject to U. S. environmental law and radiation protection standards (Appendix E). 1.3. Radiation Exposure and Control Studies by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory group during recent years have shown that unrestricted settlement on Eneu would conform radiation main to island National Federal of Bikini this protection would not standards be the (6). case, However, on as the the Brookhaven Laboratory team demonstrated by direct measurements on settlers in 1978 (4). The radiation dose from resettlement today would result primarily from eating contribution locally from grown food radiation percent of the dose would (6) (Appendix emanating stem from from the D), plus ground. the radionuclide a much More smaller than 90 cesium-137, and the rest from strontium-90. These radionuclides are concentrated in the uppermost layer of the soil. Coconut products would account for some 80 percent of the ingested dose. S000013— "