BRIEFING/DISCUSSION ON MARSHALL ISLANDS PROGRAMS WITH DP
Harry Brown, Assistant to the Manager for Off Continent Operations, NV
January 15, 1986
I.

CURRENT DOE MARSHALL ISLANDS PROGRAMS (FY 86)

A.

Medical - Under PL 95-134, DOI has the responsibility to provide

health care to people affected by our nuclear testing in the Marshalls,
while DOE has the honor of funding this responsibility.

In fact, DOE

does both the work and pays for it.

With a DOE/PASO chartered ship (MV Liktanur III) we take medical teams
twice a year to the islands of Uterik, Mejato, Majuro, and Ebeye where
the bulk of the 174 remaining exposed and a like number of a control
population live.

We provide complete examinations onboard geared

toward finding malignancies.

The ship is equipped with a laboratory

and specialized x-ray equipment.

Any special treatment or further

diagnosis for what might be "radiation relatable" is provided by DOE in
Honolulu or the US mainland.

The general population of the outer

islands is offered sick call, advice, treatment, etc., while the team
is on island.

BNL has a full time staff of four people in New York who

keep records updated, perform special analysis, stay current on health
physics/radiation medicine, analyze data and plan and recruit largely

volunteer physicians for future trips.

Through June 1986, BNL has a resident physician, a Marshallese nurse, and

a Marshallese laboratory technician working on Ebeye Island at Kwajalein to
provide interim assistance and follow up to these patients.

Because of

Select target paragraph3