Note by the Secretary, Subject: Radiological Hazards of Resettlement of the Bikini Atoll (Encl; Memo of July 8, 1968)

Page 1

RADIOLOGICALHAZARDS OF RESETTLEMENTOF THE BIKINI ATOLL Note by the Secretary 1. The General Mana memorandumof July 8, 196!er has requestedthat the attached from the Director of Biology and Medicine transmittingthe Ad Hoc CommIttee'sreport, with attachments,be circulatedfor considerationby the Commission at an early InformationMeeting. Secretary of InteriorUdall's June 26, 1968 letter to the Chairman and In Mr. Exec. Asst. to GM Asst. GM for Admn. Asst. GM for IA Asst. GM for MA Asst. GM for Operations Biology and Medicine

Page 2

UN ITED STATES F THE AD HOC CCMMITTEETO EVALUATETHE RADIOLOGICALHAZARDS-- OF RESETTLEMENTOF THE BIKINI ATOLL The meeting of expert consultants and survey team members, referred to in my April 2, 1968, memorandum to the Commission, was held on May 13-14, 1968, at the H Street office. S. Allan Lough, Assistant Director for Radiological Physics, Divisfon of Biology and Medicine, served as chairman of the meeting. The consultants reviewed and considered a large amount of data which was the product of the, survey.of the Bikini Atoll conducted in AprilMay, 1967. The committee’s report as submitted to me is enclosed. The attendant documents examined are being held in this Division. I concur in the conclusion and recouanendations that the committee submitted. I recommend that the Commission convey to the Secretary of the Interior that, if the committee’s recommendations are observed, there is no reason, from a radiological standpoint, why the Bikinian people should not reestablish residence on the Bikini Atoll. A draft letter to the Secretary of-the Interior, transmitting this recouanendation is enclosed for the consideration of the Commission. Also enclosed is a draft letter to the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy to inform them of the.latest developments in this area.

Page 3

The letters to the Secretary of the Interior and the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy should be held without action until such time as the Department of Defense makes a determination regarding its need for continuing requirement for Bikini. By agreement among representatives of Interior, State, Defense, AEC and the National Security Council,’ notification of our recommendation is being held up pending this DOD decision, or until Interior asks us to send them our formal recommendation, which they may do if the Department o$ Defense recommendation is not forthcoming soon.. The staff will work with the Departments of the Interior, Defense and State and the National Security Council on a joint public announcement to be issued at such time as a decision is made on return of the ’ natives to Bikini. 3. Draft ltr. to Chairman; JCAE

Page 4

REPORTOF THE AD HOCCOMMITTEETO EVALUATE-- TEE RADIOLOGICALHAZARDSOF RESETTLEMENTOF THE BIKINI ATOLL The Committee was convened to consider the question of whether the Bikini Atoll is safe for human habitation with respect to the radiological ha’zard. The detailed hist.ory of the various relocations of the Bikini natives is describe’d in We have examined the the appended material provided by Mr. Tobin . documents listed in Appendix II. In . addition, we spent one and one-half days in detailed discussions with members of the 1967 Bikini Survey Team and other experts as shown in Appendix XII. On the basis of the information provided, we have-reached the following ‘conclusions and recommendations: 1.. The exposures to radiation that would result from the, . ” repatriation of the Bikini people do not offer a significant threat to their health and safety. 2. Such exposure may and should be further reduced by’ the following simple measures: the. islands of the BikinimEneu complex. bl.needed on Eneu because of its ve& low

Page 5

C. Any village construction on Bikini Island should involve the covering of the rite with coral rock as is the local custom. d. Radioactive scrap mefal should be removed from the islands adjacent to former shot sites’. -e. The population of land crabs should be sharply reduced because of their high content of “Sr. f. If pandanus trees which,.produce edible fruit are Island, two inches of topsoil from the planting sites. ‘The planted on Bikini should be removed area of removal from-each site should be equal to the area covered by the crown of mature trees. . 3. Determinations should be made of body burdens of 137Cs and “Sr at the end of the first year of residence on the Atoll - and as appropriate.thereafter. Baseline surveys prior to relocation would be desirable. Resurveys of environmental radiation.levels on the Bikini Atoll and estimates of radionuclides in food should.be made periodically. These surveys will provide a continual check of the radiation status of tha people and decision as to environment.and will help form a basis for. . the time of rehabitation of islands outside of the Bikini-Eneu complex

Page 6

4. Special effort; should be made to ensure a balanced and adequately nutritious diet. For example, a dietary supplement of powdered milk would materially reduce 90SD . .. ‘uptake by relieving the calcium deficiency usually associated with .their diet.

Page 7

The Bikini people had lived on their atoll for many generations. They and their fellow Marahallesecame-underthe domination of foreignersless than one hundred years ago. The Oerman regime was succeeded by that of the Japanese at the onset of World War I. American forces during The Japanese rule was tennlnatedby the Contact with the Outside World . The people Of Bikini Atoll were not the Isolated twentieth century "Stone Age primitives"as described by sensationalist news reporters and other Journalists. They were and are8 how-' ever, less sophisticatedthan other more.acculturated Marshallese,but they had been In contact with the rest of the Marshall Ialands,.andhad been exposed to at least some of the aspects of Western culture. Every two months a Japanese schooner visited Bikini to purchase copra and to.sell food, clothing,, and other goods. Every slx months a Japanese official made a visit Some of the,Blklnl.peoplevisited other atolls, married out, .and at tended school xlsewhere. Other Marshallesevisited -

Page 8

The small Bikini community haa developed a close In-group * feellng during thc.years of relative isolation prior to the ‘coming of the whLt& man and found satisfaction and security in their closely knit personal relationships and communal life. World War 11 and the Bikini People The Bikini people were directly affected by World War II \ In that three of their young men who had deen attending the ’ government school on Jalult Atoll,were drafted as and sent to Enewetgk Atoll. They were later killed the American bombing and bombardment of thathuge and Important Japanese military base. There were only SIX Japanese soldiers at Biklnl, however;wixele3s station operators al36 manned the ammunition stores. These men were all killed by American bombing and shelling. Little damage was done $..o Blklnl, .. however, and the Bikini people were much better off than Marshallese in area3 such as Jaluit, Enewetak and Kwadalein, ._ where heavy fighting occurred. The Bikini people suffered a3 did the other Marshallese, from the c.ut-off of supply lines from Japan with thezesultant cessation of imports of necessary stored and wartlme hardships were alleviated when the American anncd forces captu?eh the Marshall Islands early In 19411. The 3erlous .. hardships of the Bikini people were yet to come however.

Page 9

Evacuation of Bikini 1 Early in 1946 it was decided that Bikini Atoll was”the most suitable location for the testing of atomic weapons. The Bikini people were asked to leave and, as might have been expected of a people of their h$storlcal conditioning td obedience, especially after more than a quarter of a century of autocratic Japanese rule, agreed to leave their ancestral home. The possibilities of resettlement in the Rarshalls were very limited because land Is scarce (only about 74 square miles) and very little of It is available ‘for settlement. The Marshallese jealously guard their land rights and will not willingly part with them. Problems of Resettlement The I.66 Blkinlans were ohfered the choice of moving to either Ujae, Lae, or Rongerik, all atolls in the northwestern Marshalls. Ujae and Lae were already regularly inhabited, but Rongerik was only exploited by the people of neighboring Rongelap who had land rights on the atoll. These people visited Rongerik to make copra, to fish, and to gather’other foods. For this reason, presumably, as well as the fact that It was the closest to Bikini, the Ujae or Lae. of Bikini men, Bl!<ini people opted to go to Rongerlk rather than &s ‘built on ‘Rongerlk by Navy Seabees and a group and all of the Bikini people were moved to that 1 For a detailed report of the movements of the Bikini people from Bikini t0 Rongerik and to Klll,,,see Mason, Leonard The Birtinians A Transplanted Population, Vol, 9, No. 1, Spring 1950, pp.-5-15.

Page 10

atoil on March 6, 1346. Ror.&erik has a dry land area of 0.65 square miles, scattcrcd over approximately 17 islands. It has a lagoon area of 55.36 square miles. This is much smaller legoon.area of Bikini, with its 36 Islands The attempt to sectlc at Rongerlk was a failure, allegedly due to the insufficient natural resources. .A Board of Investigation convened by the Navy’on June 2, 1947; recommended that the dlsplaced’Bikinians be moved again. ‘_ The Bikinians through their leader “King” Juda, as he was erroneously christened by romantically minded newsmen, accompanied by three leaders (al&b) of Bikini, Inspected ‘Rongerfx, Kill, Ujilang, Wotto and UJae to try to find a sult.able place in which to relocate their people. ,The Bikini people were interested in getting back co their ancestral home as rapidiy as possible and had allegedly rcgardcd the past and future . .-. resettlements as on.ly temporary. The period from June 2, 1947, to September 1, 1947, was spent In inspecting these possible resettlement areas. On August 26, 1947 the courkil 01’. the ex-Bikini people on Rongerik sent the foilowing letter to the American authorities: Gentlemen: We the council have held a-meeting to find the best place to go to. We have been to some other places to inspect and have consldcrc>d them. In moving we find it quite a problem. Tne pl,ace we all agreed to stay on

Page 11

* It was obvious that the Blklni leaders refused to accept the fact tha.tthey would not be allowed to return to Biklnl some day and for that reason preferred to suffer the hardships of nel&boring Rongerik to a new move, In hope of belng able to return to their ancestral home. It was decided however,.that,thebest interestsof the Bikini people would be served by transferringthem to UJllang Atoll, the westernmost of the Marshalls. Ujllang belonged to , the government,as heir to the Imperial Japanese government which had seized it from Its fomer German owners, who had HpurchasedYthe tiny atoll from Its former chief. I A group of Bikini men and Navy Seabees arrived at UJl;ang 1 .ln late November to prepare a village for another resettlement Enewetak, west of Bikini, and north of f attempt. Shortly after their arrival, an annoucementwas made. f that the atoll of Ujllang, would be commandeered as another testing ground for - atomic weapons. It was then decided that the Enewetak lnhabltants would be resettled on UJllang. This left the ex-Bikini people right where they were six months earlier, but. undoubtedlywith increased feelings of Insecurity,frustratisn and general bewilderment. Xn January of 1948 Anthropologist Leonard Mason of the University of Hawaii, made a field investigationof the prohlti at the reqtiest of the Navy. He found among other things that t the relocated Blklnlans were suffering serious hardships dn Rongeylk, and, despite a well-organizedcommunal organlzatlon

Page 12

Bikini people be moved to another location. Upon the &sls of Mason's Investigationand recommendation, the ex-Blkini&nswere again moved to a temporary location on KwaJaleln Island in the middle In March, 1948. Here, In a "tent cltyn In the midst of Marahalleseworkers from far-and wide, aa well as thousandsof American members of the armed forces, the wanderingBlklnlans awaited the next .move. Once again a tour of . inspectionwas made-of available and possible locations for resettlement. The possibilitiesfinally narrowed dowxito Wctto Atoll, which was populated,and, the single Island of Kill In the southernMarshalls. Klli was not populatedand was U.S. The m8Jorlty of the Bikini people allegedly voted for Xi11 as against Motto, and-In early November of 1948 the 184 Blklnlans were transferredtb Kill Ialand.2 The new home of the Bikini people 1s a low single coral -islandabout 0~9 and one half miles iong, on an axis of 063’ true, and Is appro&ately three-fourthsof a mile wide at its., widest point.' The extent of the area is only 0.36 square miles, with no lagoon area and a small fringing reef. 2 The increase in populationwas caused by the Bikinlans MO had married out, plus their

Page 13

very unfavorably,of’ course, with the 2.32 aquare miles of dry land area, the 229.40 square mile8 oflagoon area, and the large reef areas of Bikini Atoll. and was operated as a commercial copra plantation, by the Germans. The title to the island.wastransferredto the Japanese Oovernnaent when the Japanese seized the Harshalls in 1914. It was leased to a Japanese company and operated a3 a copra plantationuntil 1940. There were allegedly not more than about thirty 84arshalleselaborers working on the plantation at a time. Food was brought in from Jalult Atoll+,. about .. thirty miles to the southeast. Chickens and swine were raised to supplementthe imported foodstuffs. A small number of breadfruittrees were planted and used, but the island was primarily a Copra plantation. Kill passed intothe hands of the United * States Government‘following’ World War II, and the few remaintig . plantationworkers were evacuated. Kill, lying as it does in the southernMarshall, enjoys a heavy ra;nfall and has rich and deep soil, for the Marshalls. Most ofth-e island, 198.04 acres have been planted to cocor.Gt 'palms(191.17 acres). A taro patch area occupLes the center of the isiand to the extent of 4.25 acres. There are a numaer of bearing breadfruit .trecs, 3 aone edible pandanus,aa well as .banana, papaya and pumpkin plantings. 3 A serioui bre&Xriut blight has destroyed On Kill and remains unchecked. A method .thismenace has not yet been found.

Page 14

. Unfortunately, the lack of a lagoon or protected anchorage presents very’sedous problems to’the inhabitants of Kill. The unfavorable axls,of the island (063-240') in relation to the: prevailing northeast trade winds and the shelving comparatively narrow reef, are factors which cause the Island to be isolated during mmy months ,of the year. From December through March the equatorial front lies to the south, and northeasterly winds prevail. Landing conditions are therefore generally unfavorable. From November into late Xarch it is.posslble to get a boat ashore only during a few very brief periods, because of the large breakers which crash against the rocky beaches; zopra cannot be loaded and trade goods cannot be off-loaded. These. unfavorable surf conditions naturally prevent utlltzatlon 0: .the Important marine resources, which at best are infinitely poorer than those of the atoll of Bikini. The Resettlement on Kili ..-‘I The ex-Bikini people apparently experienced difficulty In addusting to Kill from almost the ‘very beginning. This was due In part to the different ecological conditions. The change from an atoll existance where’marlne resources were abundant and the lagoon and land areas -stretched away …