4 . be ne ketal eee eee ~ ae sh R be we. - FOR No. M-108 Tel. 973-3335 or 973-3446 AQAT IO IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONARD NAMED TO MONITOR BIKINIANS ee The Atomic Energy Commission has named Dr. Robert A. Conard of its Brookhaven National Laboratory to conduct routine medical surveillance of the people of Bikini as they return to their home atoll. _ Bikini atoll was the site of 23 nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958. The Bikinians were movei from the atoll in 1946 before testing began. In August 1968, President Johnson announced that the Bikinians would be able to return to their homeiand and directed the Department of Defense, the Department of the Interior and the Atomic Energy Commission to cooperate in preparing for the return. In naming Dr. Conard, the AEC is following through on a recommendation of its Ad Hoc Consultant Committee which, in 1968, deciared the atoll cnce more safe for human habita- tion. The Committee's finding was based on a 1967 scientific survey of the atoll which measured sources of potential internal and external radiation exposure. The Committee also recommended, as a reasonable precaution, that a routine surveillance of the Bikinians be set up even before their return and that continual checks be made on their radiation exposure status after they are back on the atcll. Dr. Conard has 15 years of experience in working with the people of the Marshall Islands which include He was also a member of the Ad Hoc Committee. Bikini. He has explained his role as that of a monitor. "“Every- one has a certain amount of both natural and artificial radioactivity present in his body and all of us are exposed to various levels of external background radiation. (more) - BEST COPYAVAILABLE