Mr. Wallace O. Green July 18, 1980 Fege Two It 4s zy sincere belief that these “oversights” will be corrected witha the necly enaectec Public Lav: 96-205, end I have faith thet the nevly eppointed Director of the Srooxheven-liarshells medical progren (Dr. Eugh Prett) end his medical team will remedy mary of the past melagies which heve afflicted the past preeran. _._ Tre present question conceming the proposec resettlenent of Snjebi presents us with en enigene involving a radiological cost-benefit enslysis, and in lisht of the recent historical fiesec ct Sikini, it seems appropriate to proceed with extreme caution as we arproacn the termination of the United Nations Trust Agreement witr Micronesia. ‘ve must allow humanitarian concermsYoutveigh shortesignted political expediencies, anc the entire history of United States administration in the islands clearly bespeaks tne need for prudence at this tine. It has been maintained that the Injebl people favor a return to their ancestral island, despite the potential health risks involved in such a return. Counsel for the Enetretak people -=- Mr. Theodore Mitchell of Nicronesian Legal Services -=- has communicated to me that the Enewetak people truly understane the redietion hazards involved with their proposed return, and moreover, thet the Fnewetak people (including the Enjebi islenders) are prepared to“live with those risks. I must say, based upon my experience of having lived on an outer island in the Marshalls for two years, and coupled with my current greduate research concerning the sociocultural effects of rediation in the Marshalls, that if the Injebi veople truly understood the long- term effects of residual low-level radiation, then perhaps they might not be so eager to returm to their contaminated island. I of course sympathize with the Injebi peoples" desire to return home after their 33 year exile, and I cannot question the sincerity of the Rmewetak counsel in attempting to relocate his clients. But I certainly question the supposed “understanding" by the Injebi people of the long-term effects of residual low-level radiation, which is itself a major source of controversy amongst the leading radiation experts, both in this country and abroad. For example, there is a new German study entitled "Radiological essessment of the Whyl Nuclear Power Plant" (or commonly know as the “Heidelberg Study"), which seriously questions the Nuclear Reeulatory Commission's standards about radiation emissions from nuclear power plants to outlying commmities. This study, which is listed as "NRC translation 520," states that “previous NRC exposure models and transfer factors for concentrations of radionuclides in foodchains are inaduquate." The findings-of this German study are directly applicable to the njebi health risk assessment question, and the study illustrates the uncertainties connected with low-level radiation assessments and risks.