C1aff Sloan June 24, 1980 Page Pour respond to this letter, which was taken out of context from a telephone conversation I had with Mr. Mitchell in May, and which certainly calls into question my expertise as a Marshalls expert, as well as my motives for having a continued interest in the affairs of the Marshallese. In our conversation, Mr. Mitchell repeatedly asked me about the “competence” of Drs. Bender and Brill in reference to their study entitled “Assessment of Radiation Health Effects of the Resettlement of Mmewetak Atoll." I repeatedly explained to Mr. Mitchell that there was more than “competence”™ at stake in the study, and that I did not necessarily question the “competence” of the two scientists, but rather the inherent “conflict of interest” in having Brookhaven researchers assess United States Government data. I carefully explained to Mr. Mitchell that the history of the United States’ testing program was one of repeated mistakes and miscalculations, and the very least we could now do was to show our sincerity to the Marshallese by including non-Government rediation experts in radiological surveys. When Mr. Mitchell asked me if I had the background to assess the Bender-Brill study, I said “Not exactly, because my emphasis in the Marshall Islands has been in the sociocultural domain as it pertains to my ongoing Ph.D. dissertation work.* I elso said that I did have “enough of a background in basic radiological studies to ‘mow that an independent survey was sorely needed in the Marshalls," but he purposely neglected to mention that part of our conversation in his letter to your Office. Moreover, I might mention that Mr. Mitchell, who seems to feel that he is some sort of radiation expert, should probably learn that the very first rule in making radlation assessments 1s that the long-term effects of radiation, and especially low-level radiation (like the kind the Injebi Islanders will be exposed to when and if they return to their island) are still a major source of contention amongst reputable radiation experts: Drs. Bender and Brill, as competent as they may be, are making mere speculations about the long-term effects of radiation at Enewetak. We may not lmow for ten or twenty or thirty more years what the long-term effeots of low- level radiation are, and to date there has been no “Nuclear Moses"* who has brought these answers down from Mt. Sinai on stone tablets. At the very least, our experience in the Marshalls proves that we should proceed with extreme caution, and if we are to error, let us do something different for a change and error on the side of health and sefety of the unfortunate Marshallese. We have been playing nuclear “roulette” with innocent lives for too long. And it is interesting to note that the recent article in the “Microresian Independent" about Rewetak seems to suggest that Mr.