yo oe . Mr. Thomas S$, Dunmire , . : . . wo a 72 . , . . oo au in equal payments ; -« ‘to 82 exposed inhabitants of Rongelap Atoll or their heirs. The Lak individual paymants amounted to about .$11,C00. P.L. 88-485 contained -a provision to the effect that “peymant made under the provisions of this. ‘). eeee & Act shall be in full settlement and discharge of all claims a2zeinst the United States arising out of the thermonuclear detonation on Macch 1, . aeate .1954," . . That release provision operated to discharge all obligations of.. .- ro the U.S. Govertiment, including any that might arise fron further damage - suffered by the inhabitants, However, thea statute expressed the wish “of! Congzees to assume "corcp2assionate responsibility" to cozpensate the Rongelapese for their "radiation exposures." The failure to anticipate ~ : health cfifects that ware not evident at the tine the legislation was under weal tee Consideratioa-by the Congress but which-have become apparent since then .. ..., could provide the basis for reopening the issue of compensation, ° ° ° mh \ . . . ‘It is’ well 3mown that radiation injury may give rise to tumor develo: rent after a period of rany years. The inadequacy of the period of observation \o -until 1963 for the occurrence or detection of such late effects was expressed in a letter dated March 14, 1963, from John A. Carver, Jr., Assistant Secretary of the Interior, to Hon. Veyne N. Aspinall, Cheirmesn, Connittee on Interior and Insulzir Aifairs, Uouse of Lepresentativos, The letter is included in H.R. Report No. 110, part of the legislative history of ae so . : P.L. 88-485 provided $950,000 (less 5% for legal fees) i , \ . P.L. 88-485, . 2 ' . The relevant portions of the letter are as follows: In the period immedis owing the fallout, many of the Rongelapese were efrfe usea and itening, a sudstential number susteinec temporar xin burns, end somewhat less than half sustained ,som2 degree of loss of hair, also temporary. In some cases there .yemain some scarring and pigment change at the former site of deeper burns but no evid e of cancerous change in these scars has been noted, In all of the Rorgelapese there was significant depression ef their blocd-fornins organs during the 2 months following exposure; recovery has taken place in the ye: -s since and the counts are now generally considered within normal canges, although there are a few instances where the counts are lower than in comparable unaffected individuals. - OO , . There is, to date, no evidence of leukemia nor of radiatien illness. Further, whether or not the radiation has had any life-shortening . : ° effects is not apparent. It does appear, however, that bone develop- . ment in young children who were affected by the fallout may have been retarded, and also that there is a possibility of a somewhat greater incidence of miscarriages and stillbirths among the exposed women. Neither sufficient tine has elapsed nor sufficient knowiedge acquired to permit positive conclusions to be drawn as to the long-range effect of the fallout on the Rongelapese, ween Se wens 7s Pe The een ee ere nee -