Page Three
Jonathan Weisgall
January 21, 1982
while living In a radioactive environment where there are
known “hot-spots,” as well as foodchain contamination! the
Bikinlans run a high risk of contracting many forms of
cancer over the years. Also, because the reproductive
organs will be exposed to low-level radiation, it Is possible
that genes will also be affected, which may result in
It is not unlikely that’ the
increased genetic problems.
entire gene pool of the Bikinians may someday manifest in
unprecedented birtidefects,, and the Bikinians should be
warned about this possible fate.
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Page 15:
“Some radioactive atoms stay in the lungs for a long time.”
The authors might have mentioned that radioactive atoms
which stay in the lung for a long time may cause lung cancer.
Paqe 17:
“Therefore, there are people of Bikini and people of other
places around the world who will get diseases of cancer that
are not produced by radiation.”
This Is a ludicrous and dangerously deceptive statement as
it applies to people who may reinhabit a formqr nuclear
test site where they will be constantly exposed to low-level
radiation. This passage is typical of how the DOE booklet
downplays the health risks associated with radiation exposure.
Page 17:
“If the diseases of cancer appear among the people of Bikini
who have received radiation or who may receive radiation in
the future, they would be no different from those that appear
in other people around the world.”
The absurdity of this misleading statement barely requires
amplification.
I..wonder If the authors of this DOE booklet
would offer those ridiculous statements to their own family
members if they were considering the resettlement=
13ikini?
..—’—
Page 17:
‘fWhencancer occurs in a person, no one is able to know if
the cancer came from radiation or from other things.”
The authors know better than this: Using biostatistical
methods, radiation scientists are able to find statistically
significant incidence rates of radiation-induced carcinoma,
as in the Japanese bomb victims, the Rongelap and Utirik
populations, and the persons treated in childhood with X-rays
for thymic enlargement.
“Scientists know that it is more likely that harm (cancer)
will occur to a person who receives a large amount of radiation
then to one who receives a small amount of radiation.”
It is hard to imagine that the authors of the DOE booklet
did not read the 1977 Brookhaven report by Dr. Robert A
Conard entitled ‘Sunmary of Thyroid Findings in Marshallese
22 Years After Exposure to Radioactive Fallout.’ On page
nine of this report, Conard himself refutes the above statement where he says, “One can postulate that the thyroid doses
in the Rongelap children (700-1400 rads) were high enough
to cause many cel s to die at mitosis because of lethal damage
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