a i AT
‘DOE ARCHIVE
RESPONSE TO INQUIRY ON BIKINI ISLANDERS
Can
‘
‘
“
een"
the
natives
be
returned
to
Bikini now?
No decision on that question has been made yet.
An interagency team of scientists visited the
atoll last year and collected considerable raw
data on the current conditions
material
there.
is being analyzed now.
decision is
not AEC's alone,
That
The ultimate
however.
The
Department of the Interior's Territories Office,
the State Department
are
also
involved.
and the Defense Department
There
is,
however,
sympathetic
interest within the government with the natives'
desire
to
return.