*hapter XI — Closing Remarks
This report has presented an historical
-ccount of the experiences of the Brookhaven
‘fedical Team in the examination and treatnent of the Marshallese people following their
iceidental exposure to radioactive fallout in
-954.*! This is the first time that a population
ias been heavily exposed to radioactive fallout,
and even thoughthis was a tragic mishap, the
medical findings have provided valuable infor-
mation for other accidents involving fallout
such as the recent reactor accident at
Chernobyl. Noteworthy has been the unexpected importanceof radioactive iodine in the
fallout in producing thyroid abnormalities.
The organization and carrying out of these
examinations over the 36 years proved to be a
complex and formidable undertaking. Many of
the problems were unique to a medical program.
‘Fortunately, many of us had had previous experence with radiation effects, some having participated in atomic tests. The mission could not
have been successfully carried out without the
participation of someof the finest specialists in
the various fields of medicine and the staunch
support of many agencies, particulariy
Brookhaven National Laboratory;Depétment
of Energy,** Department of Defenemiand the
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, Jtigfor-
tunate that since my retirement the medical |
programis continuing under the abi¢'diféction
of William Adams and his medical team.
Some of the difficulties in carrying out these
examinations in a distant area of the world
have been described, including organization of
the medical teams, scope of examinations, triage problems related to assembling and shipping of medical supplies and equipment, and
establishment of examination facilities on tiny,
remote islands in the Pacific.
21) Appendix II, a chronological outline of the principal events
ifpresented.
T have pointed out that the AEC/DOE necessarily had to call
on their National Laboratories for assistance in radiation problems since there were no other agencies with the required caps-
bility and facilities. It should be repeated that although our
program was under the segis of BNL and funded by AEC, there
was hever any attempt to influence the conduct of the examinaons which we carned out independently with the advice and
parnapation of medical peopie from outstanding insututions wn
the United States.
) Q lu | 0 ty
When we arrived in the islands, our medical
team was facedwith the medical care of a popu-
lation with ethnic background,life style, customs, and language that are different from ours.
In retrospect, due to a certain naivety on our
part, we did not at first appreciate how these
differences might apply to the conductof our
examinations. The language barrier madeit difficuit for us to communicate with the people and
help them understand their radiation exposure
and the need for the examinations, particularly
blood tests. (Later, when they began to develop -
thyroid abnormalities, they cameto realize
more fully the importance of the examinations.)
Unfortunately, they were never able to understand very much about radiation andits effects
on them. They were afraid of this unseen, unfeilt
“poisonous powder’ and its effect, and this
becamea strong psychological factor. They continued to believe that every ailment and every
death was somehow related to radiation exposure.
It is understandable that with the disruption
of their lives, the developmentof radiation
effects, and the contamination of their isiands,
there was increasing bitterness towards the
United States about the accident and,justifi-_
ably, increasing demands for compensation. The
local polititiansand lawyers representisg:the:
people becameever:more vocal in their criticisms of the United States in handling the post-
accident problems. og
it
The criticisms increasedand the years 1972
to about 1977 were troublesome onesfor us.
Unexpectedly, the Japanese anti-A and H-bomb _
groups becameinvolved with the Marshallese
politicians in criticizing the way the fallout vic-
tims were being handled. These groups were
very active in Japan and created much publicity
concerningthe fallout exposure of the Japanese
| _ fishermen on the Lucky Dragon. The
Marshallese politicians were greatly angered
when the Trust Territory Governmentrefused
to allow a Japanese group that they had invited
to visit Rongelap to examine the exposed people
and the group had to return to Japan.This
action precipitated a cascade of events: the
abortion of our 1972 medical examinations after
the team bad arrived at Rongelap dueto political interference; the formation of a specidl
investigative committee on Rongelap and Utirik
45