ee Ro} Dr. Robert Conard, Brookhaven National Laboratory. . (, wwented at Inter vency KMeetin( .Sent. 19, 1975 ‘\ A REVIEW OF PERSONNEL MONITORING AT BIKINI As a result of the recent meeting at Kili by Trust Territory, ERDA and Micronesian Legal Service officials concerning restrictions on rehabilitation of Bikini it is apparent that there are several points of misunderstanding in the minds of the Bikini people concerning statements I have made regarding the radiological safety of Bikini. Before reviewing the radiological monitoring obtained on the people living at Bikini I would like to clarify some of the confusion. First, at the time of the Ad Hoc Committee meeting, the visit of ~~ the Trust Territory and AEC officials to Kili in 1968 and my visit. to the island in 1969, the statements made about the radiological safety of Bikini were justified based on the survey data compiled at that time. Subsequent analyses of personnel monitoring data on the people living at Bikini showed low levels of vadicactivity in the people confirming the original conclusions. In all sincerity, I disclosed this as additional assurance to the people living there. Based on these findings I would not hesitate to live in one of the houses on Bikini. TI am sad about the statements a few people made about me at the Kili meeting. I have great friendship and respect for the people of Bikini and in no way and at any time have I tried to mislead then. From the beginning there were certain restrictions concerning rehabilitation it necessary to impose further restrictions. I would like to clear up another point of confusion regarding "medical" examinations. We have never done medical examinations on the Bikini peopie for possible radiation effects. The reason is that the radiation levels are so low that such examinations are not necessary. For this reason it is wrong for anyone to accuse us of using the people living at Bikini to study radiation Cn aeEe aR reee cee ve, mos Ly 4s oR ane ene et ame on eengeNnsoP EERE Te gee a natemeen ag © : : Tart! . of Bikini. It is only very recently that radiological survey data has made aot tag Se vor fet oe oof te. .t