ta tr rs iy ae so om * _ SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 1986 A214 THE WASHINGTON Post BRAVOTest: ® ° 9 No. ‘Guinea Pigs The root cause of the BRAVOaccident was that the test device achieved a yield, or explosive force, three times that which hadbeen expected, and that that force carried a cloud of debris, much larger than had been expected, to very highalti- Cynthia Gorney’s piece [“Islands in a Storm,” _ tudes, where it was diffused over a much larger area than had theretofore been thoughtpossible. Style, April 7] on Dennis O’Rourke’s award-winning film about the Marshall Islands demands imDuring the late-hour preparations, including the mediate comment—not because of any error on meteorological briefing 45 minutes before the Gorney’s part, but to agree emphatically with test, the task force commander and.-his scientific - O’Rourke’s definitions of what he is (a filmmaker) staff had been assured, on the basis of information and whatthe film is (observational), Would that he then available, that conditions were such that no had been more observant and more willing togive fallout should reach the populated atoils to the fair consideration to facts and observations. east. Rongelap and Rongerik were specifically conMycredentials? [ was at Bikini as a Los Alamos sidered and named. physics experimenter during the BRAVOtest in Of course, we now know that the fallout did 1954. From 1972 until my retirement from the Department of Energy last September, .I worked - reach Rongelap and Rongerik (and Utirik as well). A fair examination of the record will reveal that continuously on Marshall Islands’ problems, includonce that fact was known, those in authority acted ing in particular that department’s responsibility responsibly and with dispatch to alleviate the imfor the follow-up care of the Rongelap people and mediate suffering and mitigate the long-term efother related remedial actions. I have testifects, To use the term “guinea pig” in this context fied under oath before congressional committees is a grave injustice to many dedicated scientists, considering these matters and served as a mempractitioners, technicians and administrators with ber/technical adviser of the U.S, delegation that a long-term commitment to the well-being of the negotiated the agreement with the Republic of the injured population. Marshall Islands relative to the consequences of the BRAVOtest, I must make one further point, which has to do More important, however,is the fact that I was with the sad plight of Lekoj Anjain, the young man in répeated contact with O’Rourke during the time exposed to BRAVOeffects as an infant whodied of: he made thefilm “Half Life,” at first on his initialeukemia here at the National Institutes of Health tive, offering him access to authoritative documen18 years later. I know his family. 1 attended his tation and offering also to meet with him and to memorial service in 1972, His mother’s bitterness cooperate with him in making the premise of his is understandable. But Lekoj was not “used” any " argument factual. Regrettably, the offer.of such a more than any of us is used by his/her physician, meeting was not accepted. endeavoring to learn, I in no way intend to suggest that the accident through each patient's that befell the people of Rongelap on March 1, course of treatment, how ¥&@ , 1954, was anything less than tragic. But it does better to deal with the “os not soothe their hurt to so distort the record as to next similar experience. A : have the victims, and the world, believe their in- -responsible and compasjuries were deliberately and malevolently inflicted sionate nation, considerby the United States. Such a notion is doubly abing no other recourse, horrent to me,as it suggests not only that our govprovided to this unforernment would carry out such a plan, but that tunate young man the those individuals responsible for executing the best it knew how to BRAVOtest (many of whom were then and later offer. my respected associates and friends) would be parThe film industry may ties to it. ; judgeitself on whatever Thefitm “Half Life’uses a number of clips to describe the weather conditions in the Marshall Islands at BRAVO time, making the point that those in authority were aware of the “unfavorable” conditions. What the film fails to say is that the deSprintines neanan lesalawa Te wn. > scriptions presented are irrelevant. It was not the surface winds, or those in the 20,000-foot regime, that carried the fallout great distances to the east; it was the stratospheric winds, which on that day, for the first time in the history of atomic bomb testing, came to be recognized as a vital consideration. standards it adopts. Ifit chooses to reward directorship in observational filmmaking, that - surely is its privilege. But iet no one suggest that the product “Half Life” is even substantially consistent with the historical record or with fact; and let not a journal such as The Post pretend thatit is journalism. —Roger Ray