The meeting was opened by District Administrator Oscar DeBrum who stated
that this is the long awaited opportunity for the people of Eniwetok
to visit their home islands. The District Administrator appointed an
interpreter and instructed him to translate the statements made during
the meeting.
The District Administrator then introduced the Deputy
High Commissioner.
Mr. Coleman said that the purpose of the trip is for the benefit of
the Ujelang representatives.
“We are here to see what now exists, to
take a look, at what is here now." The Deputy High Commissioner requested
that each person present be introduced. After the completion of the
introduction, Mr. Coleman suggested that Mr. Roger Ray of AEC explain .
the work that he and his people have recently completed.
Mr. Ray:
“As you know, Eniwetok has not been prepared for resettlement
as Bikini has.
There is still much work to be done and we are just now
completing a preliminary survey of the islands."
("We do know that there are some locations where radioactivity remains
from the atomic testing and we shall have to remove that before some of
the islands will be suitable for long-term occupancy."
‘There will be no danger
islands, but we do plan
locations where we have
you take his advice and
out to you."
to you “--m a short inspection visit to the
to provid: an escort who is familiar with those
found some radiation problems. We ask that
stay clear of any areas which he will point
“We are also going to ask you to wear at all times, while you are at
Eniwetok, a green badge which will be given to you after this meeting.
This badge is known as a film badge and is customarily worn by all of our
workers wherever there is any possibility of even a slight exposure to
radiation. We do not expect any of you to be exposed to any significant
amount of radiation.
In fact, we do not expect to find any evidence of
radiation on these badges. But we require this procedure so that if
there should be some unexpected exposure we will know about it and be
able to inform you of it."
,
"We will collect your badges when you leave Eniwetok and take them back
to our laboratory in the United States for evaluation.
Each badge is
numbered and we have recorded that number along with your name on an
identification card."
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