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VUL829
Specifying what the responsibility of the United States would be
should the people of Enewetak choose not to observe recommended
living pattern restrictions
The GAO notes that the United States does not plan to clean up
all the islands of Enewetak Atoll to the point where no restrictions
would have to be imposed. Therefore, the GAO report holds that it is
imperative that a provision be made specifying the United States'
responsibility should the people of Enewetak choose not to observe
recommended living pattern restrictions.
As the Department of the Interior pointed out in its original
comments on the draft GAO report, up to the present, the Enewetak
Planning Council and the Enewetak-Ujelang Counci] have pledged that
the people will follow the restrictions recommended by the Department
of Energy. Similar pledges could be obtained when all of the cleanup
and rehabilitation work is completed. The Department of the Interior
continues to believe that it is not
possible to demand “formal
unqualified assurances”, short of the United States Government or the
new Marshallese Government keeping a permanent security force on the
atoll to enforce restrictions. Reliance must be placed upon the
representatives of the people themselves.
IV.
The course of action to be taken should the people of Enewetak
receive excessive doses of radiation
and
The specifics of followup radiological surveys and of monitoring the
health of the resettled people and the radioactivity in the environment
1
5
rs
a
‘
The GAO report contends that because of the uncertainty of the
Tong-term effects of exposure to low-level radiation, it is possible
that the people of Enewetak could receive radiation doses in excess of
current standards even if they adhere to living pattern restrictions.
Further, even if the people of Enewetak do not receive excessive
radiation doses by current standards, their doses could eventually
be considered excessive should radiation dose standards become more
stringent. The GAO report contends that, according to EPA sources,
there is a good possibility that will happen.
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The ‘GAO report holds that representatives of the people of Enewetak
and the United States should agree, in advance, on what course(s) of
action will be taken should either of these possibilities become a
reality.
There currently is before the U.S. Congress a bil], H.R. 3756,
which includes a provision for a program of medical care and treatment
and environmental research and monitoring for any injury, illness, or
Condition that may have been the result of nuclear. testing for the
people of the atolis of Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap, and Utirik, and for