VieLossLoa AOE AL by , UNITED STATES ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION & ~ WASHINGTON, 0.C. 20545 February 2, 1976 £ |PASC REPOSITORY Honorable Peter R. Taft Assistant Attorney General COLLECTION ATIN: BOX NO. ea WUTC COs Land and Natural Resources Division Floyd L. France, Chief General Litigation Section FOLDER Department of Justice Washington, D. C. 20530 o V JA3BY Of 19 Pb ~ OGD//9F7R cd / Dear Mr. Taft: THE PEOPLE OF BIKINI, et al. v. SEAMANS, et al., CIVIL NO. 75-348, This will respond to Mr. France's inquiries as to whether ERDA has been able to secure definitive resolution--from the Office of Management and Budget or otherwise-~of the outstanding questions regarding the funding of the desired aerial survey of certain islands in the Northern Marshalls including Bikini Atoll. We recognize that the conduct of this survey appears to be the principal demand of plaintiffs in this litigation, and may even provide a basis for settlerent of the lawsuit. A brief recapitulation of the Pacific involvement of the defendant agencies may be useful before a discussion of the present Status. During the period 1946 to 1958, the United States Government conducted nuclear weapons tests at the Pacific Atolls of Bikini and Fnewetak. Before the tests were begun, the U.S. evacuated the island people. The testing program and the use of these Pacific Atolls for testing were approved by the President. All but one of the test series were performed by Joint Task Force that reported jeintly to the Atomic Energy Commission and to the Department of Defense. The exception predated the establishment of the AEC and was the first post World War II series of tests performed at Bikini in 1946, to study the effects of the atomic bomb on Naval ships. For many years, the Bikini people were dissatisfied with their living conditions and were asking to return home. ys Following a radiological survey by the Atomic Energy Commission and an evaluation of safety aspects of resettlement, a cleanup and rehabilitation program was undertaken at Bikini Atoll jointly by the Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Defense in 1969. This was in response to President Johnson's letter of August 12, 1968. (Exhibit A to the é