A Review of Personnel Monitoring at Bikini

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. As a result of the recent mcetfng at Kili by Trust Territory, ERDA and Microncsian Legal Service officials concerning restrictions on rehabilitation of Bikini it is apparent that thcrc are several points of misunderstanding in the minds of the Bikini ?cople concerning statements I have made regarding the radiological safety of Bikini. Before reviewing the radiological monitoring obtained on the people living at Bikini I would like to clarify some of the confusion. First, at the time ,of the Ad. Hoc Committee meeting, the visit of the Trust Territory and AEC officials to Kili in 1968 and my visit to the island in 1969, the statements made about the radiological safety of Bikini were justified based on the survey data‘compiled at that time. Subsequent analyses of personnel monitoring data on the people living at Bikini showed 14~ levels of radicactivtty in the pco?le confirming the original conclusions. In all sincerity, I disclosed this as additional assurance to the people living there. Based on these findings I would not hesitate to live in one the statements a fe>rpeople madeof the houses on Bikini. I am sad about ‘. about me at the Kili meeting. I have great friendship and respect for the people of Bikini and in no way and at any time have I tried to mislead them. From the beginning there were certain restrictions concerning 'rehabilitation of Bikini. It is only ver? recently that 'radiologicalsurvey data has made ’ it necessary to impose furtherrestrictions. I would like to clear up anotherpoint of confusionregarding"medical" examinations. We have never done medical examinat!.,nson the Sikini people for possible radiationeffects. The reason is that the radiationlevels are so low that such examinations are not necessary. For this reason it is wrong for anyone.toaccuse us of using the people living at Bikini to study radiation

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cffccts. bdintion thcrc is tooslight for medical studies to be of interest since no radiationeffect;Gould likely IX detectable. The urine collection l and mcasuremcntsof the body for radioactivityare not medical proceduresand are done by technicians. These measurementsare importantsince they form the basis for reassuranceof the people living on.Bikiniregarding their radiologicalsafety. Though we are not doing medical examinations if our doctors arc at Bikini, as in the past, we will always be glad to see, 'treatand prescribefor any people that arc sick - but only at the request of the individualor the health aide. Unless requestedby the peoplc,itis not even necessaryfor our doctors to go to Bikini. In'1969,personnclmonitoringprocedureswere begun on a group of 30 ,y.. workmen at a work camp on Eneu Island. By 1972 about 3 Bikini families ;' had moved back (about50) and also about 25-30 workers and agriculturists.'i,: Radiologicalmonitoringat Bikini has been carried out annually since 1969. The size of the populationhas not changed much 'since1973. In order to assess the radiologicalhazard the followingpersonnel monitorinsproccdurcshave been carried out: pooled samples). These analyses require complicatedchemical and aie done for us by the ERDA Health and Safety Laboratory in NCW York City. Such radiochemicalanalyseshave also been carried out on water and local food products. .' 2. Direct mcasurcmcntof radiation in the people by garnnaspcctroto the Marshallsand a shieldedcounting facility set up in one of our aircondition& trriilersand transportedto Bikini on our vessel (LCU-Liktanur).

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The mcasurcmcntof body radiationby such an3'lysisis very scnsitivcand rcu quircs complexclcctroniccquipmcntand personnelhighly trained in electronics. 3. Personnelexposure to gamma radiation:,Garr=nalevels on the island were derived from data furnishedby other radiologicalsurvey groups. The results of the personnelmonitoringdata on people living at Bikini since 1969 are presentedin the accompanyingtables. The data on urine analysesare presentedon Table I, Note that average pCi/liter for Eikini comparedwith Rongelapwas for 90Sr 2.5j3.8 and for 137 these isotopeshave been well below maximum permissiblelevels. Reassuringalso is the virtual absence of plutonium in the samples. Levels Cs as measured by spectrographicanalyses are presentedin Table 2. Note the average values for males and females on Bikini comparedwith those on Rongelap (in nCi/pg body weight) was 1.4/6.4, again well below the maximum permissiblelevels. Zle graphs in figures 1 people are well below the peak values noted in reached a peak of 6-11'3:of the 90 Sr and 137Cs in the Bikini the Rongelap people. The volucs for internallyabsorbed radionuclidesis in accord with the fact 'thatthe people on Bikini have been subsisting-mainlyon imported foods. The contributionof gamma radiationto the pcoplc on Bikini is somewhat greater than on Rongelap.

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Table 3 cozp~rcs the total .bonemarrow dose (the criticalorgan for somaticradiationeffects) for pcoplc living at Bikini, Rongclap,Utirik, . Long Island,New York and Denver, Colorado. Since the people,livingat Denver have a considerablyhigher natural radiationand medical, dental.. : . contribution,the exposure to the people living there is probablyhigher than people living on Bikini. The estimateddose to people on Long Island is somewhatless than Bikini doses, also it might be noted that many thousandsof people living inareas of South America and India are exposed to higher levels than iridicatedfor Bikini due to high thorium content of the soil. There have been no reports of increasedcancer or other illness in Denver or these other high level populationsthat might be related to Hore recent data from radiologicalsurveys last June at Bikini showing higher than expectedradiationlevels in the interiorof Bikini and higher levels in pandanusand breadfruithave resulted in.some further restrictions on the future living patterns of the Bikini people. At the time of the Ad Hoc Committeemeeting it was not known about.plansfor buildinghouses in the interiorof Bikini I:-and. Recommendationsto put the first village and fdod crops on Eneu were not followed,'nor was the.rcco&e;:dationsto remove topsoil from planting sites of pandanus and breadfruiton Bikini . followed. The recommendationfor the addition of powderedmilk to the diet' of the people is being implemented. The restrictionregardingconsumption .of pandanus and breadfruitmay eventuallybe removed followinginvestigation on growth of these plants at Eniwctak. Table 4 shows results of analysts of water samples from Bikini. Based on these findings the well water is in the permissiblerange. Catchment (rain)watc‘r.isvery low in activity. With the

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‘construction of new cisterns and mending of leaking ones there should be ample catchmcnt water for drinking and cooking. . Consumption of marine life offers no radiation problem. Coconut crabs (set Table 5) appears to be high enough in activity to bc avoided. They are quite sc3rce in any event. Further analyses of local products (pigs, chickens;vegetables, etc.) have not been completed. ‘!owever, it is reassuring that the present . consumptionof availablelocal_ foods and ground water based on these findings, have not raised body burdens of radionuclidesabove the low levels The directmcasurcmcntof radiationlevels in the people living on Bikini is the criticaltest of radiologicalsafety. The exposure of the people there, based on the present living pattern, arc in the remissible range and as pointed out lower than some other communitieiin the world. As was pointed out radiationexposure is so low on Bikini that medical effectswould not be 'discernablein this population (see ESDA letter of June 27, 1974 from Mr. J. Liverman to Mr. Chips Barry for estimated effects). We believe that continuationof personnelmonitoringis important,however, to maintain a close check on the radiologicalstatus of the people. Also

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(BASED ON RAOIOCHEM ICAL URINE ANALYSES) BODY BURDEN GAMMA EMMITERSWHOLE BODY GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY -

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EVENT LOCATION DATE * ISLANDS AND ATdLLS IN FALLOUT AREA SANDSTONE -ZEBRA ENIWETOK 5/48 AILINGINAE, ROYGELAP, RONGERIK CASTLE - BRAVO BIKINI 2154 AILINGINAE, RONGELAP, RONGERIK, TAKA, LIKIEP, UTIRIK, BIKAR,,WOTHO, JEMO, AILUK CASTLE UNION ~IKlNl 4/54 AILINGINAE, RONGELAP, RONGERIK CASTLE - YANKEE BIKINV; 5154 AILINGINAE, RONGELAP, R0NGERj.K. BIKAR HARDTACK - MAGNOLIA ENIWETOK 5158 UJELANG w HARDTACK-MAPLE BIKINI 6/58 AILINGINAE. WOTHO