CHEMICAL AND RADIOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE RONGELAPESE DIET INTRODUCTION Rongelap Atoll was contaminated with radioactive fallout resulting from the Bravo test on March 1, 1954, that it population was necessary Rongelapese. June 1957, habitation. Some 200 to evacuate the Marshallese returned to the extent to (Dunning, 1957). In March 1958, human several surveys to determine levels of radioactive contamination at Atoll Rongelap in after the area had been declared safe for Since 1954 there have been of 82 Rongelap a study of the ecology of the atoll relative to radioactive contamination was initiated at the request of the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission, Division of Biology and Medicine. One of the objectives of this investigation was to arrive at an estimate of the amount and kinds of radionuclides and minerals ingested by the Rongelapese through foods. The fat, protein and carbohydrate were determined to provide a basis of comparison with known diets. To our knowledge there are no published data on the diet of the Rongelapese. Rongelap Atoll lies in the northern Marshall Islands, an area of comparatively low rainfall and limited variety of