Page Six
Jonathan etre
January 21
"2. A detatled explanation of the Rongelap verses Utirik
exposure levels and resulting thyroid problems. Your articles
state that a much higher rate of thyroid problems have developed
among the Utirik group, which received only 1/10th of the radiation
of the Rongelap group,but I do not see precise numbers in the
documents you gave me."
———~Response: At the moment, I have yet to see Dr. Conard's 26-Year
Annual Medical Report from Brookhaven, which is expected to be
completed at any time.
I therefore will restrict my figures to
the material contained in the 1980 AAAS sympostum (which I enclosed
previously) by Dr. Hugh Pratt--these are the latest numbers I] have
sean regarding incidence rates of thyroid neoplasia in the Marshallese.
Dr. Pratt states that in the Rongelap group (“exposed-and “unexposed,"
1.e., those on Rongelap during the Bravo fallout and those who
returned in 1957) there were 66 thyroid tumors with 7 of these being
malignancies. Pratt says at Utirik there were 16 thyroid tumors and
3 of these were malignancies.
If these figures are adjusted, 7 out
of 66 tumors at Rongelap are malignancies, whereas 12 out of 64 tumors
at Utirik are malignancies.
That is, there are nearly twice as many
thyroid cancers at Utirik than at Rongelap.
The Conard 20-Year Report
may show an even higher ratio of thyroid cancer for the Utirik people.
In connection with the above, a former physician with the Brookhaven
medica} team--Dr. Konrad Kotrady of the University of Utah School of
Medicine--found the same phenomenon.
In his 1977 report "The Brookhaven Medical Program to Detect Radiation Effects in Marshallese
People,” Kotrady made the following statement: "“...the ratio
of thyroid cancer to thyroid modules found in exposed people at both
islands is higher at Utirik than at Rongelap."
Kotrady report)
(Page 8 of enclosed
As indicated earlier, Conard himself explains that at higher
doses of radiation many cells would die at mitosis because "of Tethal
damage to the reproductive mechanism and thus reducing the number of
cells at risk for malignant transformation.
At lower doses, as in the
adult (Rongelap) group, a greater number of cells would be spared for
malignant transformation." (Page 9, "Summary of Thyroid Findings in
Marshallese 22 Years After Exposure to Radioactive Fallout," by Robert
A. Conard. )
Karl Z. Morgan, in his 1978 paper titled "Cancer and low level
fonizing radiation," (In Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, September,
1978, pp. 30-41) suggests that low level radiation may cause more
cancer than previously believed. He Supports this view with the same
logic as that of Conard in the study previously mentioned, specifically
with regard to the cell-killing effect at higher doses.
I might mention that I am deeply troubled about the Government's
tendency to minimize health risks associated with radiation exposure.
For example, in the 1980 BEIR Conmittee Report, it {s stated in the
chapter on the thyroid gland (page 304) that "A minimal latent period
of 10 years seems to be reasonable" (which follows the 9-year latency
period in the Rongelap group) and "A peak incidence perhaps 20years
after exposure is suggested by some studies." This jast part troubles
me, especially since the BEIR committee specifically refers to Conard's
HU67-G