-5tests at Christmas Island in the South Pacific between 1957 and 1958. Writing in the April 9th, 1983 issue of the British journal Lancet, Dr. Alice Stewart states that she would have expected to find 17 cases of RES disease among the approximately 8,000 atomic veterans who served at Christmas Island. From a preliminary sample of only 330 returned questionnaires from the group of 8,000, Dr. Stewart has located 27 cases of RES disease thus far--a finding that suggests a dramatic incidence rate of RES disease in this population exposed to ionizing radiation. This recent finding by Stewart is a significant piece of the enigmatic puzzle surrounding the atomic veterans issue, and we shall be monitoring the progress of these British researchers as they attempt to unravel a portion of Cold War history by use of statistical techniques. researchers in England Moreover, Stewart and her co- are getting the full support of the scientific community in that country, as exemplified by the following statement which appears in the April 9th Lancet, and which was underwritten by a wide array of British scientists: The servicemen present at the nuclear test explosions constitute a uniquely large sample of healthy young men who were at risk of exposure to ionising radiation and among whom there now appears to be evidence of radiation related effects. To examine as fully as possible their subsequent medical histories, access to a complete nominal roll of the total group of exposed persons is required, together with full disclosure of what is known about radiation exposure of the men on duty during these tests. We urge that an independent academic body be asked to conduct a fullinvestigation into the morbidity, mortality, and pernaps genetic effects in these men, to do so. and given the means