exposure period before evacuation, but others did not, therefore, were optimal conditions in general for possible beta damage." there The AEC's Credibility These later developments (acute effects) were in stark contrast to the press release issued by the Atomic Energy Commission 10 days after the event, and before the Lucky Dragon reached its home port. As one writer put it, apparently the Commission was trying to be "reassuring." "During the course of a routine atomic test in United States personnel and 236 residents were atolls to Kwajalein Island according to a plan These individuals were unexpectedly exposed to the Marshall Islands, 28 transported from neighboring as a precautionary measure, some radioactivity. There were no burns, All were reported well, After the completion of the atomic tests, the natives will be returned to their homes." (12, p. 169) oa| Le is The Japanese, however, were not very reassured upon discovering that the Lucky Dragon's crew radioactivity. a Especially disturbing was the possibility that vast areas of the Pacific had been made radioactive by the monster bomb, and thatpossibility caused tremendous concern in both the Japanese public and Japan's fishing industry. i had heen exposed to near lethal or lethal doses of Again, the AEC tried to be "reassuring," as evidenced in a statement released on March 24, 1954, which in part said: “., . . the warm currents which flow from the Marshall Islands area... move slowly (less than a mile an hour). Any radioactivity collected in test area would become harmless within a few miles . . . and completely which would cruise aboard the Shunkotsu Maru, through and around the test zone, American scientists had been invited to participate, but inexplicably, when they arrived in Tokyo, found that the ship had departed nine days earlier than scheduled, leaving them behind, The findings of the Japanese scientists differed somewhat from the reassuring AEC statement, according to Dr, Roger Revelle, Director 141 —~S (p> 62 vn. 17¢) The Japanese, despite this statement, organized a scientific survey team — | i ied a| undetectable within 500 miles or less."