Mr. Wellace O. Green July 18, 1980 Page Two It 4s =v sincere belief that these “oversights” will be corrected with the necly enactec Public Lav 96-205, end I have faith that the newly appointed Director of the Erockhaven-Narshalls medical progran (Dr. Eugh Prett) end his medical team will remedy mary of the past maladies which have afflicted the past pregran. esent question conceming the proposed resettlement of us with en enisme involving e@ radiological cost-benefit enalysis, ame in lisht of the recent historical fictcee at Tikini, it seems apvropriete to proceed with extreme caution 2s we anroroach the termination of the United Nations Trust Agreement witnr “icronesia. ‘ve -_~ “py, ee es erts must allow humanitarian concernsYoutweigh short-sighted political expediencies, anc the entire history of United States administration in the islands clearly bespeaks tne neec for prudence at this time. It hes been neintained that the Mnjebi people favor a returm to their ancestral island, despite the potential health risks involved in such a return. Counsel for the imetrreteak people -- Mr. Theodore Mitchell of Micromesian Legal Services -~- has communicated to me that the ‘ Enewetak people truly understand the redietion hezards involved with their proposed return, and moreover, that the Mmewetak people (including the EInjebi islenders) are prepared to live with those risks. I must say, based upon my experience of having lived on an outer island in the Marshalls for two years, and coupled with my current graduate research concerning the sociocultural effects of radiation in the Marshalls, that if the Injebi people truly understood the long- term effects of residual low-level radiation, then verhaps they might not be so eager to return to their contaminated island. I of course sympathize with the Injebi peoples!’ desire to return home after their 33 year exile, and I cannot question the sincerity of the mewetak counsel in attempting to relocate his clients. But I certainly question the supposed "understanding" by the Mmjebi people of the long-term effects of residual low-level radiation, which is itself a major source of controversy amongst the leading radiation experts, both in this country and abroad. For example, there is a new German study entitled "Radiological assessment of the Whyl Nuclear Power Plant" (or commonly know as the “Heidelberg Study"), which seriously questions the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's standards about radiation emissions from nuclear power plants to outlying commmities. This study, which is listed as "NRC translation 520," states that "previous NRC exposure models and transfer factors for concentrations of radionuclides in foodchains are inaduquate." The findings of this German study are directly applicable to the Injebt health risk assessment question, and the study illustrates the uncertainties connected with low-level radiation assessments and risks.