t pees eee, WEAPONSTESTING Ok SS A 1954 continued halted and that the Bikini and Enewetak people be compensated for their islands. a "When we were returned to our home island, the U.S. gave us four large pontoons filled with drinking water and boxes of C-rations...They left and told us not to eat or drink anything from the island. We were quite suprised that they did not clean the cement water catchments 4 t CONTAMINATED BY HIGH LEVEL RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT FROM THE BRAVO TEST, THE RONGELAP PEOPLE ARE CHECKED FOR RADIATION WITH GEIGER COUNTERS. Navy Photo. i MAY Rongelap: After three months of ex- aminations and treatment at the Kwajalein Navy base, the Rongelap people are resettled temporarily on Ejit Island in Majuro Atoll, as high radiation levels on Rongelap prevent their return. Utirik: Receiving what the AEC doctors term "small" amounts (14 rads) of ra- diation from Bravo, the Utirik people return home from Kwajalein. Brookhaven doctors state: "Their island was only Slightly contaminated and considered safe for habitation.” which contained poisoned water. When we ran out of water in the pontoons, ‘someone tasted the water in the catchments and found it to be okay, and so then we all drank this water." Kel Joel, from Utirik Atoll. MAY Enewetak: Operation REDWING begins: at Enewetak and Bikini. This test series includes 17 atomic and hydrogen bombs through July. The Lacrosse test (May 5) at Enewetak is listed as 40 kilotons. Three hydrogen bombs are tested at Bikini: Cherokee (May 21) listed at "several megatons;" Zuni (May 28) at 3.5 megatons; Tewa (July 21) at 5 megatons; information on the other tests remains classified. : ms 1957 JULY Rongelap: A Brookhaven report for the AEC states that "in spite of slight lingering radioactivity" JUNE Bikini: Radioactive contamination Rongelap Atoll is safe for habitation. 130 times above normal levels is dé- ~ “rhe people exposed in 1954 return home, tected at a testing point 312 miles along with more than 200 Rongelap peowest of Bikini. A Japanese governmentple who had been away from the atoll 1955 MARCH 9 United Nations: Mar- shall Islands representatives again petition the U.N. Trusteeship Council requesting that the nuclear testing be A eases 2 during the Bravo test. Brookhaven doc- tors call this unexposed group "an ideal comparison population for the studies." Utirik: On the gounds that the lower ex- posure of the Utirik people is less ha- zardous (14 rads compared to 175 for the Rongelap people) Brookhaven doctors examine the Utirik people only once every three years. : sponsored scientific team sampling ocean water and marine life reports that radioactive contaminants are found in the ocean from the northern Marshalls westward almost to the Mariana Islands, 3.000 miles away. 1958 Rongelap: Stillbirths and mis- (continued on page 14) eee