The fact that in the Marshall Islands thyroid cancer is more prevalent in.peopie exposed to lower than to higherlevels of radiation is not widely known in the United States. nearby Rongelap and Utrrtk atolls, were severely contaminated with ash-like fallout. For many years people have debated whether or not the Marshallese were deliberately exposed. The official position is that upper ‘evel winds changed suddenly after the blast. depositing fallout on the inhabited istands. Admiral Lewis Strauss of the Atomic EnergyCommission, ata press conference on his return from Bikini in 1954. said of Bravo “*. . , at no time was the testing out of control.” He added. “"No test is made without a definite purpose and a careful determination that is directed to an end result of major impcrtance,...’7'* Nevertheless. within hours of their exposure (at Rongelap. 175 rems. and at Utirik. 14 rems) the people began to suffer from nausea and severe itching of the skin: skin burns andloss of hatr occurred in the following weeks. Since then, 19 out of 22 children exposed on Rongelap have had surgery for removal of thyroid nodules. In 1972 a youth. barely a year old at the time of his exposure in 1954, died of myelogenous leukemia. A 1977 report by Brookhaven states: "Recently about 50% of the exposed Rongelap people showed hypothyroidism without clinical evidence of thyroid disease. a finding that probably portends trouble ahead.”"'® ‘ ‘For twenty two years, the people fof Utirik] have heard Dr. Conard and other doctorstell them notto worry, that the dose of radiation received at the island was tov low to cause any harmful effects, However, it has become apparent that the theory was wrong. ... There is as much thyroid cancer at Utirik as at Rongelap.-"7? A 1976 Brookhaven annual report contirmed the finding that thyroid 28 cancer is actually more prevalent in the people who received low level exposure than in the high level group.?! A questionable decision by the Atomic Energy Commission allowed the Utirik people to retum to their atoll within six months of the Bravo test in 1954 and the Rongelap people after three years, Little radiological cleanup was done on either atoll, but both were declared safe despite “slight lingering radiation.’ ‘>? Some 20 years later. the Department of Energy has decided the islands were not safe. Shortly after the northern Marshalls radiological survey was finished, Department of En- ergy scientists went to Rongelup in early 1979 and told the people that the northern islands in their atoll, which for the past 20 years they have had three ‘strange’ still born babies, one ‘completely unrecognizable as human.” Also reported among women on Likiep were ten other babies that were not normal. a quite high percentage of the population. "74 No medical program exists for the people from these islands, but the list of miscarriages. deformed babies. cancers. thyroid nodules and environmental] problems from sup- posedly unexposed atolls is steadily growing. Because Brookhaven does not examine people trom these other islands. the government has been able to deny that any health problems exist on the grounds that there are no data. Even on Utirik and Rongelap, Brookhaven has taken an extremely used for food gathering, were too narrow view of the problems, according to Kotrady. In his 1977 critique he said: miles from Bikini—have radiation levels at least equal to. and in some cases higher than. an island at Bikini, Since the 1954 Bravo incident. the United States has stated unequivo- ‘The original purpose of the program wasto be as broad as possible to discover all possible effects. ... Enewetak. Rongelap and Utirik were effects should be found in the tests. But in 1978, the Departmentof Energy suddendly reversed itself and reported: ‘‘In addition to Enewetak. Bikini and Rongelap Atolls. there are eleven other atolls or single islands that received intermediate range fallout from one or operate in a mode of looking for those effects predicted by experts. ... It tends to focus on specific areas. such as the thyroid and blood, where the scientists expect effects to occur.’*5 radioactive to visit. Moreover. the Department of Energy survey shows that islands in Rongelap—only 125 cally that only the atolls of Bikini. contaminated during the weapons more of the megaton range tests.""°? One of these atolis in the northern Marshalls is Likiep. According to a caretul reportin the Micronesian Independent, June 6, 1980: “Out of 406 people who Jive in Likiep. there are documented reports that list nine women who have given birth to babies with severe mental retardation, one woman who Over the years. however, data from various sources and opinionsof ex- perts have assessed what long term people. Thus the program seems to Much of the information concerning low level radiation in the Marshalls is relevant to the United States. in view of the uncertainty surrounding Three Mile Island, mil- itary personnel exposed to nuclear tests. and so forth. The fact that in the Marshalls thyroid cancer is more prevalent in people exposed to lower than to higher levels of radiation ts not widely known in the United