1 Page Two Jonathan Weisgall January 21, 1982 W* “standard (radiation standard) - The amounts of radiation that have been established that people should not exceed.” To an unsuspecting Marshallese, this statement implies a threshold level of radiation Injury. The authors should. . have pointed out that no radiation level IS safes as in the linear model, and moreover, that there Is growing evidence for a super-ltnear model which states that cancer MY be . Induced at lower levels of radiation exposure due to the numbers of cells that may be spared for a later malignancy. “radiation - A kind of energy that comes from radioactive atoms as they change and become other kinds of atoms. This energy we cannot see, hear, smell, taste, or feel.” Nowhere does it state that radiation Is harmful to human health. “Of the atoms that are radioactive, some have always been These are God-made and it will take a very long time before they go away.” To Invoke the name of God with the Marshallese, who are very Christian, especially as It relates to radiation, is a cheap shot which takes advantage of the peoples’ religious beliefs. This statement violates the rule of logic insofar as it appeals to a higher authority--one almost gets the distinct Impression that God sanctions radioactivity because It was present at the Creation. This entire page distorts the fact that unlike other locations in the world, Bikini is the site of 23 nuclear explosions--wlth many of these In the megaton range. I do not know of a single honest radiation scientist who would return the Bikini to raise a family, yet the language contained on page 4 gives the impression that the radiation at Bikini is not very different from other locations In the world. a part of the world. E!S!LE: ..—--- Paqe 14: “No alpha radiation is able to reach people’s bodies from the radioactive atoms in the soil.” This statement is false. Plutonium, an alpha-emitter, can enter the foodchain-and be internally absorbed into a human body . Also, It takes only one-millionth of a gram of Inhaled plutonium dust to cause a lung cancer. It would be like playing radiation roulette to see how long it would take for the returning Bikinians to contract lung cancer after living at their former atoll. “SOme of the strontium atoms will leave the body when people eliminate, but many of the strontium atoms will remain in the bones, and radiation will continue to come from these radioactive atoms.” The authors failed to mention that whenever radioisotopes are ingested in the human body, they come into contact with normal, healthy cells. When this happens, the nuclei of normal cells are bombarded with radioactive particles and high- and low-energy rays which can alter healthy cells. The result of this nuclei bombardment can lead to cancer, and