410763 Published 1980 by Elsevier North Holland, Inc. K.F. Hitbner and S.A. Fry, eds. The Medical Basis for Radiation Accident Preparedness anTut, 3 a “OPP : aS : “een ° Robert A. Conard “anes ~1972, : ; Consultant and former Head of the Marshall Island Medical Program at Brookhaven National Laboratory. tng 3 ! - 7 Com © ror the : The 1954 Bikini Atoll Incident: An Update of the Findings in the Marshallese People . The thyroid findings in the Marshallese people accidentally exposed to radioactive fallout following the detonation of a nuclear device at Bikini in 1954 are reported in detail in a 20-year review” and other reports.?? A 25-year review is being written. A brief updating is presented here. The Marshallese populations with exposure data are listed in Table 1. The early effects of exposure on the Rongelap group were similar to thase reported by Dr. Kumatori for the fishermen on the Lucky Dragan. Transient nausea and vomiting occurred in that group and to a lesser i : . . degree in the Ailingnae group but were not reported in the Utirik group. The major findings in the Rongelap group were depression of blood leukocytes and platelets to about one-half normal levels for 4 to 6 weeks, widespread ‘‘beta’’ burns of the skin with epilation, and significant internal absorption of radionuclides. These findings were less pronounced in the Ailingnae group and were not documented in the Utirik population. These observations are described in detail in earlier reports. During the firstdecade there were few findings that could definitely be associated with radiation exposure; although there did appear to be a lag in complete recovery of leukocytes in the Rongelap group. During the second decade, however, there were serious developments in the exposed Rongelap group -—a death from acute myelogenous leukemia and numerous thyroid abnormalities along with growth retardation in some of the children. Development of Thyroid Abnormalities bee eV sae 2 Radiochemical urine analyses shortly after the accident revealed measurable amounts of radionuclides, particularly isotopes of strontium, ]