exposure -~ even of 1 uuC -- should have been avoided at all costs for two reasons: 1. many of the exposed persons had already been exposed to near lethal doses of radiation, and 2. data on the effects of low doses like those received from residual radiation are virtually nonexistent. Thus to assume small additional amounts will not be harmful is to do so in the absence of statistics which support such an assumption. In connection with this, there is also no known data on the effects of subsequent irradiation of persons already exposed to near-lethal doses or of persons who after exposure constantly lived in a radioactively-contaminated environment. In this, the Rongelapese and Utirikese are unique -- for unlike the Japanese and Americans, since returning to. their home islands, they have continually lived in a mildly radioactive environment. Aspects of Findings Over the Past 18 Years The Special Joint Committee, through the courtesy of Dr, Robert A. Conard of BNL, has had available to it copies of most of the reports and articles published by that institution under contract to the Atomic Energy Commission. As mentioned earlier, they are quite extensive in scope and detail as well as being, for the most part, very technical in nature. Rather than review each report individually, however, the Committee has chosen to study only certain of the medical aspects of the annual examinations, to wit: blood cells, genetic effects, miscarriages, stillbirths, effects on the fertility, growth and development, effects on the thyroid, and miscellaneous considerations. 103 [O14 TI: