(. ~ ~ "James Ls Liverman \ ~2- PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED that misunderstanding and I anticipate success. However, there is a deeper misunderstanding which derives, I believe, from the very fact of Dr. Conard's appointment. Dr. Conard is accepted and recognized as an authority on radiation-induced illness. The May 1969 press release took notice of his "15 years of experience in working with the people of the Marshall Islands", and the people of the Marshalls, today, associate that experience with thyroid abnormalities, miscarriages and fatal leukemia. Is it not then reasonable to expect the same sorts of things in the returning Bikini population? Otherwise, why send Dr. Conard?. .. or amy medical surveillance team? These are difficult questions to answer, especially for responsible and careful U. S. officials who must acknowledge that there are elevated radiation levels at Bikini and who decline to use such terms as "perfectly safe", etc. There are also those in the Marshalls who rationalize that since we are proposing to return people to Bikini, where some exceptional medical surveillance is required, we are deliberately planning to expose people to Bikini radiation in furtherance of our own research interests. In an interview which I gave to the Editor of the Micronesian Independent en route returning from Kili, I made the following statement which was reported verbatim: "Our primary concern in recommending continuing monitoring is the health and safety of the people returning." Then the writer editorializes: "He (Ray) never mention (sic) what ERDA's implied secondary concern of continued monitoring is." filsewhere this writer strongly implies that ERDA's real interest is in obtaining data. The concern of the people is understandable. We have left room for a completely rational (albeit incorrect) interpretation of the facts. We have done an insufficiently precise and thorough job of informing the Department of the Interior, the Administration of the Trust Territory and the affected populations of our purposes and our plans. Our recent experience at Kili and Bikini, and our earlier experience with the people of Enewetak, indicate the need and the real value of frequent and candid direct dialog with the people. Through this means, I believe that we can and will gain understanding and acceptance of our actions. DOE ARCHIVES