Purposes of this project were to (1)
injury to the human beings exposed,
evaluate the severity of radiatidn
(2) provide for all necessary medical
care, and (3) conduct a scientific study of radiation injuries to hum
beings.
The organizations and ships involved were:
Naval Medical Research Institute
Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory (NRDL)
Patrol Squadron 29 (VP-29)
Naval Air Station, Kwajalein
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL)
USS Nicholas
USS Renshaw
USS Philip
Applied Fisheries Laboratory, University of Washington
Hanford Atomic Power Operations
OPERATIONS.
The primary operation was the evacuation and decontam[-
nation of the people involved from 28.5 to 78’hours after BRAVO was defonated.
This process and the operational units involved are described
Chapter 4.
In
The evacuees were taken to Kwajalein where immediate medic}.
needs were attended to and initial scientific studies made.
Residual
fa-
diation at the contaminated atolls was surveyed during March to establjsh
the exposure levels of the natives.
ble 66.
These missions are summarized in Pa-
The people of Rongelap were later taken to Majuro in the Marsfalls
where they remained until 1957, when they returned to Rongelap.
Utiri
which was less heavily contaminated, was reoccupied by its evacuated ighabitants in June of 1954.
Medical followup studies on the Marshall Iq-
landers have continued from 1956 to the present, under the supervision
the Brookhaven National Laboratory (Reference 64).
The U.S. service pdr-
sonnel were taken to Tripler General Hospital in Honolulu for bioassay
observation, but they have not been included in the medical reviews by
Brookhaven.
188