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Declassified record · U.S. Department of Energy

Letter to N F Barr, Subject: Possible Objections to Proposed Studies of Eniwetok and Bikini Populations

Dated
Apr 14, 1975
Document type
Correspondence
Length
3 pages
Open the original scanArchive record OSTI ID 16068871 · public domain

Document text

Machine-read from the scan, so expect some errors. Lines that couldn’t be read are left out.

Page 1

ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION PACIFIC AREA SUPPORT OFFICE P&calling your remarks of last week about studiee you would hope to initiate with the returning Enewetak and Bikini populations, 1 think you should be aware of some of the objections which have some currency in the Marshalls. Nelson Anjafn is a qentle man who has been our friend and a friend of Canard's over the years. As a young man (37, I believe) he was Mayor, or Magistrate of Ronqelap at the time of the Bravo incident, March 1954. His son, Lekoj, was an infant at the time. Lekoj died in November 1972 at Bethesda. I met Nelson at that time and have visited with him since. At Lekoj's funeral he expressed sincere appreciation for Bob Canard's work and for the care his son had received. There was no bitterness evident and that occasion was not taken as an opportunity to embarrass us or open old Recently,,howevex, Nelson has become associated with the some help in developing into more of an activist than he has been heretofore. Noting especially the third item fn his petition, I think that we must realistically appraise the cost in credibility and in acceptance of our other Marshall Islands activities of any research effort which can be construed as "using people". 1'11 continue to keep an open mind, but I'll also aontinue to share with you what I perceive to be the parameters and oonstraints of our situation in the Marshalls. Enclosures: As indicated .p(J-!!"'.:;.c<_C( 1533

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will .result in the banning ‘- of all, nuclear weapons *. Roger Gale, suakir I weapon ip the South t: tions Skneral Assembly. would be similar to those tarctica and Latin $meriMalaysia,. Indonesia. and :- peace activist and former operate its new Trident missiles with multiple nutaki, professor emeritus bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. Professor Yoritaki said right eye, which was nephew died of leukemia, said his people suffer not duced illness from the nu- ‘he treaty, if passed by the UN, would .put .U.S,,_ and.NekonAnjain, mayor dear blast at Bikini, but

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-j send iour, or five of his -! States set off E-bomb and fell iike snowon RonSince then, said Mayor are worried about ‘our lives and we don’t know Anjian .said his people J:>-*gain to the. United States 1 4 : tration of the Jrust Terrigelap is no problem.. “In three i months’ we lcan copra. wrom ‘the sale of copra; the people buy imported rice, flour,. sugar c-year now rather than coconut crab only three times a .week,” he said, but do not explain why it ’ cannot be eaten every now. We are afraid.“. he give the people pills. We . don’t know what for or . Anjian said 19 persons have. died in. Mainland he said, including all enough to. support his wife