Wersgall ingested the largest amounts of radiation of any known population. and they concluded that it was necessary to move the people off the island as soon as possible. History sadly repeated itself in August 1978. as U.S. ships once again entered Bikini lagoon, and the 139 people on the island packed up their possessions and left. No one has been allowed to live there since then. Living Laboratory way of accurately predicting the levels of internal doses of radiation, short of moving people to the island and studying them over the years. That is exactly what they did, and in this sense the Bikinians’ suspicions are well founded. On seeingthe site of the Bravo shot . . . the Bikinians declared that their islands had lost their bones. The experiences of the people of Bikini since 1946 prove Murphy's Law. Anything that could go wrong did. Bur why? Why did the AEC ad hoc committee conclude in 1968 that Bikini was safe? Whar led the AEC in 1971 to state that the water was safe? Why did the Bikini resettlement begin before all the facts were known? There is a strong feeling among Bikinians that they were moved back to Bikini as human guinea pigs in order toenable US. scicn- tists ro measure the long-term effects of lowlevel radiation. They point. for example. to a 1976 study prepared for DOE that concluded: An equally troublesome factor in the AEC’s decision-making process was what seems to have been sheer negligence. To estimate in— ternal doses of radiation. the AEC needed to know something about che diet of peopie who would be living on Bikini. Lacking detailed information, the AEC referred to a 1957 report by an AEC researcher on the diet of other people living in the Marshal! Islands. This study predicted thac the Bikinians’ entire daily intake of coconut meat and milk, the only liquid in their diet, would be nine grams, or severa] teaspoonsful. This figure was obviously wrong. The Bikini Atoll may be the only global source of data on humans where intake via in- gestion is thought to contribute the major fraction of plutonium body burden... It is possibly the best available source of data for evaluating the transfer of plu- tonium across the gut wall after being incorporated into biological systems. DOE vigorously denies the charge that it used Bikini asa living laboratory, but serious questions are raised by the AEC’s decision in author of the report has suggested that the nine-gram figure in the AEC study may have been a typographical error. In fact, recent reports revealed that the correct figure is closer to 600 or 700 grams. Whatever the reasons for the error, it rendered the AEC’s internal dose assessment calculations ludicrous. Carter administration officials and the Con- gress concede that America neglected the Bikinians in the past. but they have promised to rectify three decades of mistakes and bun- 1968 to move people back to Bikini Island. Ignorance was a major factor in the AEC’s decision. Scientists in 1968 could make reasonably accurate estimates of the long-term risks associated with external radiation on Bikini, but external doses constituted only 10 to 15 per cent of the islanders’ total exposure. The bulk came from internal doses. the results of drinking contaminated well Water and ingesting food grown in Bikini's radioactive soil. Scientists in 1968 had no of Bikini. It has also appropriated $6 million for a trust fund for the Bikinians, as well as $1.4 million for direct distribution to 90. 91. gling. Toa limited extent. their promise has been kept. Congress. under the strong leadership of Representatives Phillip Burton (D.California) and Sidney R. Yates (D. -Illinois), has passed legislation providing for periodic radiological surveys of Bikini Atoll, updated radiation dose assessments, and a comprehensive health-care program for the people