Department of Eneray Washington, D.C. 20585 May 15, 1979 Honorable James A. Joseph Under Secretary of the Interior Washington, D. C. 20240 Dear Mr. Joseph: I am pleased to reply to your letter of April 12, 1979, regarding the possible return of the Bikini people to Eneu Island. This response will address both of the issues you raise: 1. Your understanding of previous statements by my staff. 2. More detailed information on estimated dose assessments for people living on Eneu Island, including various assumed living and eating patterns. With respect to the first point, your understandings are, in general. correct. The more detailed information addressing the second point is included as an enclosure to this letter. If the guidance of the Federal Radiation Council] (FRC) (500 mrem/yr to individuals, and 170 mrem/yr and 5000 mrem/30 yrs to a population) is to be complied with, the people could return to Eneu only if it is assured that adequate imported food would be available to and used by the people for approximately 20 years, that food grown on Bikini Island is not a part of the diet, that residence is restricted to Eneu Isiana, and that visitation to Bikini Island is effectively controlled. Since the FRC guides were originally formulated, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was prepared for the resettlement of Enewetak Atoll. In the E1S, recommended criteria which are one-half of the FRC guidance for individuals and 80 percent of the 30-year FRC guidance for populations were proposed for evaluating land use options for use in planning the cleanup and rehabilitation of Enewetak Atoll. These criteria were recommended because of uncertainties in estimating future doses to the people at Enewetak Atoll. However, following the return of people to the Islands, direct radiation exposure measurements would