aa
.
ee
.
Giff Johnson, a free-lance writer who has traveled extensively
throughourthe Pacific, edits the Micronestu Bulletin
seer
published in Honolulu, Hawaii 96826.
bythe early 1970s a few people had
begun moving back.
Many Brkinians tell of Atomic Energy Commission scientists taking
them to Bikini to demonstrate its
safety. When the Bikinians refused
UNITED STATES,
PACIFIC OCEAN
5 bCran 18 ANS
to eat any local foods. fearing radia-
(
tion exposure. the scientists would
consume conconuts, fish and other
foods in front of the islanders to
HAWANAM Chk,AMOS
convince them.'' In 1972, however,
the Bikinians expressed doubts
about the safety of their atoll and
voted not to return home. But the
government was committed to the
resettlement and offered Marshallese government employees free
food and housing if they would move
-.¢
.
levels
pre.
i
ae
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po
’
' Population: 24,248
:
} Area: 69.84 square miles
{
.
Mariana, Caroline and Marshall Isiands
Total istand population: 114,645
Enewetac
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Inhabited atolls and separate islands: 110
“
Ocean arca: @ 3,000,000 square miles
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oe i
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Land area: 700 square miles
of
v.
! Marshall Islands District:~~
N
During an Atomic Energy Com-
low
Q. 141 islands)
'
mission survey of the more than 100
peop!. living on the atoll in 1975, the
of
>»
PACIFIC ISLANDS
*.
to Bikini.
“presence
~~TRUST TERRITORY OF THE
PL”
ay
Peas
;
* jeneet
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v
¢
plutonium” in their urine was dis-
eal
.
covered. The Commission, and later
the Department of Energy, did not
consider
this
‘‘radiologically
vt
significant.’''? By 1977, tests showed
cram. to reduce consumption of
3
»
‘-
maximum permissible dose allowed
in the United States. The Bikinians
Were evacuated again.
26
7
—_—
se
fans.
plutentum across the gut wall after
tenorated further and by May 1978.
a high percentage of the Marshallese
body
jdevels were above the
7
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at
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fer’
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being incorporated into biolugical
systems. "'3 The situation de-
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oo
oe
local foods. and thus exposure.
The Department seemed reluctant
to give up what one Lawrence
Livermore Laboratory study called
“possibly the best available source
of data for evaluating the transfer of
pee
|
é
the Department of Energy suggested
institute a complete feeding pro-
*
aw
\”
an 1[1-fold increase in the people's
bodyburdens of cesium-137. Rather
than remove the population from a
hazardous environment, however,
that the Trust Territory government
.
7
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