Cliff Sloan
June 24, 1980
Page Pour
ae TF
Tespond to this letter, which was taken out of context from a
telephone conversation I had with Mr. Mitchell in May, and which
certainly calls into question my expertise as a Marshalls expert, .
'g@sS well as my motives for having a continued interest in the affairs
of the Marshallese.
__
In our conversation, Mr. Mitchell repeatedly asked me about
the “competence” of Drs. Bender and Brill in reference to their
study entitled “Assessment of Radiation Health Effects of the
,Resettlement of Snewetak Atoll." I repeatedly explained to Mr.
Mitchell that there was more than “competence™ at stake in the study,
and that I did not necessarily question the “competence” of the two
scientists, but rather the inherent ‘conflict of interest* in having
Brookhaven researchers assess United States Government data.
I
Carefully explained to Mr. Mitchell that the history of the United
States’ testing program was one of repeated mistakes and miscalculations, and the very least we could now do was to show our sincerity
to the Marshallese by ineoluding non-Government radiation experts in
radiological surveys.
.When Mr. Mitchell asked me if I had the background to assess
the Bender-Brill study, I said "Not exactly, because my emphasis in
the Marshall Islands has been in the sociocultural domain as it
pertains to my ongoing Ph.D. dissertation work."
I also said that
I did have “enough of a background in basic radiological studies to
‘mow that an independent survey was sorely needed in the Marshalls,“
but he purposely neglected to mention that part of our conversation
in his letter to your Office.
Moreover, I might mention that Mr.
Mitchell, who seems to feel that he is some sort of radiation expert,
should probably learn that the very first rule in making radiation
assessments is that the long-term effects of radiation, and espéclally
low-level radiation (like the kind the Injebi Islanders will be exposed
to when and if they return to their island) are still a major source
of contention amongst reputable radiation experts:
Drs. Bender and
Brill, as competent as they may be, are making mere speculations about
the long-term effects of radiation at Enewetak.
We may not know for
ten or twenty or thirty more years what the long-term effects of low-
level radiation are, and to date there has been no “Nuclear Moses" who
has brought these answers down from Mt. Sinai on stone tablets.
At the
very least, our experience in the Marshalls proves that we should
proceed with extreme caution, and if we are to error, let us do something different for a change and error on the side of health and
Sefety of the unfortunate Marshallese.
We have been playing nuclear
“roulette” with innocent lives for too long.
And 1t 1s interesting to note that the recent article in the
“Micronesian Independent® about Enewetak seems to suggest that Mr.