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DANIEL A OV l NO Chair nan Oixy Lee Ray United States & - to nicE zerg y Commission Dear Chair ran Ray: vices to ac; on their ce half in ava ric ty,of matters. spc akin z, we arz dca1ir.q wi?h problens stem ing iron their rez oval from Sik in i stcll many years2 ~ o ,and from the impending return to a partially rehabilitated Bikini. In the past two years, we have been only ninimzlly involveti' on b e - half of the3ik in i people in natt ers concerning re sid ti zl radiation at Bikini. -4s the date for eventuzl return to Bikini noves closer, wt find nu nero u sun an ssc red aue st ions, 5ut it is clear that rieiliker upon which to a a ke intelligent der is i or,s and in port anz chc ict s. In considering tile radi at i or ? situ ; l r : on, it sp pears to tis that the major areas of concern are as follo ~ s : 1. What doctiment, nene, or report, frcin the .IEC o r from other
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hr. Dixy Lee Ray I 1 qu at ely deal with the potential problems of human habitation at mary and rec or in end at ions " xh ich co c sent s briefly on the adv is ahi - lit y of human habitation at certain points on the atoll. These Conclusions and re co amend at ions are apparently based pri rna ril y on data obtained f rong ort zh lc gama survey cet ers which indicated various points in the atoll. This report nak es reference to a 1067 Ad-hoc Cornmittes which evalu - a ted the radiologic z - 1ii a zard s of resettle zen t of Bikini. ?!e pre - sume that this c orz it Tee made extensive i ; rit ten findings,con clu - sions, and re co an end at ions. !:ay :ic please have a copy of their report, and o f any r qo rts updatinm or altering their conclusions ? Are there other reports or menoraE?a from AEC or other sources, which nak e recon mc nd at ions about hunan habitation at Bikini ? i f On the same topic, Ke understand that several years ago, Tom XcCrzw, head of the AEC's Division of OF e rational Safety,na de a trip to have faclcd considerably,however, and no op e with whom we have discussed this visit can remember exactly \;hat was said or even the general tenor of thc adv icc given. If there are substantial radi a - tion hazards z t Bikini, and sign if ic act zd visor y nea sure s thst need t o be followed by the people,perhaps it iio a ld be a good idea to have a repeat visit by !!r. ?.IcCraw s one time shortly after the people have been resettled.In any case, it Foul dbe help E ul for us to have copies of any transcripts,notes,or reports stem i ing from the earlier visit by Yr. b!cCraw tQ Kili, 2.A second major concern is the quality ' of the past radiologic zl surveys of Bikini. We understand that the Division of Biology and Medicine of t!ie AEC did radiological surveys of Bikini in 1964 and !:;?-73 Enewetak Radiological survey leads us to believe that insiru improved considerably since 1964 and 1G67. is adv is zb leto have an updated radio loci cal survey of Bikini,to take advantnGe of technological advances, and tots kea greater - Did these surveys collect a sufficient quantity of data to Do you believe that it 3. A related concern is the apparent lack of data from Bikini t5at Will all ok ; reliable estimates of internal dosages.Atleast !isi.-e significant san p ling,of edible fish and plant cnt e rial froin 3ikini
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blr. Dixy Lee Ray will you favor us with a copy of there co an end at ions and conclusions for hunan habitat i cn based upon sucIi a study ? The radiation figures we have do nota ? ~ e a rt o take possible internal radiation into mean.back gro un0raG i at i ori in the village area on Sik in i island is they say, will cut tlie ne3n cx po sure rate in half. Does the >.EC that the" concr cte floors of the !louses vi11reduce the exposure. We do not doubt that the concrete will reduce the exposure,bu t- c I - i;cx per .year i s more than dou bie the es tabl icl icd gui dc liz es for pop ul a - on what the exposure lev cls night be !i.ith concrete or coral, \ i e ;:auld. like to know exactly at the levels are in the areas :%-heret h e Bikini an s \<illdo most of their livin2.Perhaps surveys that ha\:e figures for exposure ? c vel s in the village area. The Snith anc! '!oore report which lie have in cli cates that the tions based Egon the data,in order that they c2n decide for the:- tobe made, for ex a a ple,are ti!iere t clive(Kili or Bikini ; if Bikini should be visited, and for how long ; what foods should bc eaten OT avoid zd, and i r ? ichat quantity.It appears to be fairly certain that the3i kinia nsx ili choose to live on Bikini rather t:?:n tion. To the best of our knowle dz c,the other quest i ops have cot yet been specifically addressed by the Sik in ian s. non - a lar nips rr inner.X ever the less, v:e believe it is important to make ther ? ttc mp t. Our brief study of the area has not lz d to a clear idea of ?iov.. the ex plz nz tion should best be made. I n respaase state pro bz bi liz ies of s cnet ic and / o r sonatic defects,hased OP various dosage lev cls, \,*illn ot be z caning ful when applied to a pq ' u - st Bikini with the iTrtitcd Stat csor,els c where will be a use f gl tool Finally, azd pcr ii acs nost irnnortantl;:, \<e hope that the AEC: \*:ill
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Mr. Dixy Lee Ray i n comprehending risks from backs round radiation. we beli cve that it is vitally ir port ant to state thc risks, horicver, small, from low dosage ra diz tion,in am nner that is comprehensib leto the Bikini people.Ke are sure that you share this be - lief, and t ? iat t!ic AEC will have constructive i dc as as t o how t o present sophisticated co ncc pts of radiation to an on - technological society such as the E ik in i people. 13e ' realize that the above request to state the risks of low dosage radiation iRa meaningful Tnanner intrudes soneryhat into the on tro - vcrs i alarc a surrounding the threshold or no threshold debate. h" as Stated by theY at ional Councilor Radiation Protection and the no threshold concept siiould be used forest iz at in ? the maxinun deleterious effects of ionizing radiation. " (Basic Radiation Tro - may not bc standard AEC pol c cy,for the purpose of evaluating and stating the risks to the Bikini an s,the XEC should assume tSeno - In any case, do not suggest that \:e acceptor reject either th cory. However, 4 IYhat we are saying is that although it At the very least, rie request that you evaluate A number o f Kili people nay be able to retilr in the next non th OT so. conti ng cnt upon receipt of the in form tion r Nevertheless, it v:ould seem appropriate that as soon as possible. Ife look forward to rec tion of the concerns expressed above. i?e do not believe esp on se he pre par