the dose at all atolls using the results from the MLSC diet survey of the Enewetak ‘people on Ujelang Atoll. The dose is also calculated using the BNL diet results by applying the appropriate diet to each atoll as recommended by the BNL authors. We have used the BNL diets even though the authors feel their values probably overestimate the amount of food actually consumed.2° The diet is, of course, very important in predicting doses to a population because the radionuclide intake, and therefore the dose, will correspond directly with the intake of locally grown foods. We have mentioned in previous assessments the importance of the diet and the uncertainty that was inherent in previously constructed dietary patterns. /? 10 The BNL diet survey once again indicates the atoll-specific nature of the dietary intake and supports our concern that specific dietary information is needed for each atoll and each cultural grouping.-° As an example, if the average coconut intake were assumed to be as high as the values listed for coconut meat and fluid in the BNL report for community B, then the estimated maximum annual dose rates would be about 2.7 times higher than those calculated using the MLSC results when imported foods are available and 1.5 times higher than when imported foods are unavailable. It is clear that more precise diet data are needed for each atoll if we hope to develop more precise dose estimates. The normal condition referred to in the MLSC diet is the usual and expected living conditions in which the preferred imported foods are available. For the situation where imported foods are unavailable, it is assumed that there is a primary dependence on locally grown crops for a person's lifetime. It is again emphasized that an accurate picture of the diet, especially the consumption rate of locally grown foodstuffs, is extremely important in the dose predictions for current living patterns and resettlement options at an atoll. The maximum annual dose rates for Likiep, Wotho, Ujelang, Mejit, Ailuk, Taka, Jemo, and Bikar for all exposure pathways excluding cosmic radiation are less than 6 mrem/y if the MLSC diet is used and are less than 30 mrem/y even when the BNL diet is used. The only significant source of natural external background exposure in the Marshall Islands is the 3.5 UR/h or 22 mrem/y from cosmic radiation.© For reference, these doses can be compared with the external background doses observed in the U.S. The average dose from cosmic radiation for the entire U.S population is 28 mrem/y and range as high as 50 mrem/y for Denver, Colorado to Colorado.*? 125 mrem/y for Leadville, Therefore, the additional cosmic radiation doses in the U.S. relative to the Marshall Islands range from 6 to 103 mrem/y depending on whether the U.S. population average or specific subfractions of the population are considered. The external background exposure from terrestrial sources in the U.S., which includes structural 49