agreement,
the fact of the matter is that they belie difficult and
perplexing problems,
In Japan today, there are numerous facilities
existing for the specific care of A~bomb victims, which the people
can easily reach almost any time they choose,
Also, in Japan, the
Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission publishes annual reports in both
Japanese and the English languages and almost all of the staff at
these facilities are Japanese citizens,
On Rongelap the people
receive an extensive examination once a year, by Americans assisted
by a Micronesian medical staff and hear no more about their examinations until the next year.
originally,
the people exposed generally understood what was
being done for them and why.
There was no need to explain that the
bomb had affected them when they could see for themselves the skin
ulcerations and hair falling out, or feel the weakness, nausea, and
diarrhea.
perplexed,
However,
as the examinations continued the people became
Every year the team comes and the doctors tell them that
they are healthy, but that they just want to check to see if everything is still alright.
cess is repeated,
Why,
Then they go away.
The next year the pro-
the people have reasoned, if we are healthy,
does the team return every year?
This attitude, is a small indica-
tion of the vast lack of understanding by the people involved as to
just what did happen to them, and what the possible consequences of
their exposure are,
While the Committee realizes that the area of radiation, as
applied to physical health, is a highly complicated and sophisticated
subject which would require some effort and expense to translate into
[O14 7b1
159