Report of the Ad Hoc Committee to Evaluate the Radiological Hazards of Resettlement of the Bikini Atoll

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REPORT OF THE AD HOC COMMITTEE TO EVALUATE THE RADIOLOGICAL HAZARDS OF RESETTLEMEhT OF THE BIKINI ATOLL 706746 The Committee was convened to consider the question of whether ,the Bikini Atoll is safe for human habitation with respect to the radio - logical hazard. The detailed history of the various relocation s of the Bikini natives is described in the appended material provided by Mr. Tobin We have examined the documents listed in Appendix 11. I n addition, we spent one and one-half days in detailed discussions with mcmbcrs of the 1967 Bikini Survey,Team and other experts as shown i n the following conclusions and recommendations: On the basis of the information provided, w e have reached 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: a.Restrict rehabilitation for the present to ' the islands of the Bikini-Eneu complex. b.Establish the first village and immediate food crops on Eneu. No radiological precautions will be needed on Eneu because of its very low

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, c ' . Any village construction on Bikini Island should involve the covering of the site with coral rock as is the local custom. d. Radioactive scrap metal 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 'OS,. f . If pandanus trees which produce edible fruit are planted on Bikini Island, two inches of topsoil should be removed from the planting sites. The area of removal from each site should be equal to the area covered by the crown of mature trees. Determinations should be made of body burdens of 137Cs and3 . "Sr at the end of the first year of residence on the Atoll and a s 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 the people and environment and will help form a basis for decision as to the time of rehabitation of islands outside of the Bfkini-Eneu complex

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

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PRELIJCCNARY ANTHROPOLOQXST'S REPORT - BIKINI ATOLL SURVEY 1937 Brief Historical Background The Bikini people had lived on their atoll for many domination of foreigners less than one hundred years ago, Qennan regime was succeeded by that of the Japanese at the onset of World War I. The Japanese rule was terminated by the American forces during World War 11. They and their fellow Mara halles e came under the Contact with the Outside World The people of Bikini Atoll were not the isolated twentieth news reporters and other journalists. They were and are, however, less sophisticated than other more ac cultura ted Ma'rshallese, but they had been in contact with the rest of the Marshall Islands, and had been exposed toat least some of the aspects of Western culture. Stone Age primitives " as described by sensationalist Every two months a Japanese schooner visited Bikini to purchase copra and t o sell. food, clothing, and other goods. Every six months a Japanese official made a visit to the atoll. Some of the Bikini people visited other atolls, married out, and attended school elsewhere. Other Marshallese visited

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The small Bikini community had developed a cloae in-group feeling during the years of relative Isolation prior tothe coming of the white man and Pound a at is fsc tl on and security in their closely knit personal relationships and cmu nal life. World War TI and t h e Bikini People The Bikini people were directly affected by Horld War 11 i n that three of their young men who had been attending the Japanese government school on Jalult Atoll were drafted as laborers and sent to Enewetak Atoll. They were later killed there in the American bombing and bombardment of that huge and important Jepanese military base. There were only six Japanese a old ler s at Bikini, however; vdreless station operators also manned the ammunition stores. These men were all killed by American bombing and shelling. Little damage was done toBI kb l, however, and the Bikini people were much better off than Marshallese In areas such as Jaluit, Enewetak and Kwajaleln, where heavy fighting occurred. The Bikini people suffered as did the other Marshallese, from the cut - off of supply lines from Japan with the resultant cessation of Imports of necessary consumer goods and export at ton of copra. Communications were restored and wartime hardship3 were ,alleviated when the American armed forces captured the Marshall Islands early I n 19414. The serious hardships of the Bikini people were yetto come however.'

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Evac us tion of Bikini Early in 1946 It ha6 decided that Blklnl Atoll u as the most au it able location for the testing of atomic weapons; The Bikini people were asked t o leave and, as might have been expected of a people of their historical condition lng to obedience, especially after more thana quarter of a century of autocratic Japanese rule, agreed to leave their ancestral home. The possibilities of resettlement in the Marshalls 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 166 Biklnians were offered t h e choice of moving t o either Ujae, Lae, o r Rongerik,.aTl atolls in the northwestern Marehalls. Ujae and Lae were already regularly inhabited, but Rongerlk was only exploited by the people of neighboring Rongelap, who had land rights on the atoll.These people visited Rongerlk - t o make copra, t o fish, and t o g&ther other foods. For this reason, presumably, as well as the fact that It was the closest to Bikini,the Bi ltl ni people opted t o go t o Rongerlk rather than A village was built on Rorigerlk by Navy Seabees arid a &ruwp of Bikini men, and all of the Bikini people were moved to tW For a detail cd report; of t!ie novernencs of' tne Bikini people from Eikini to dong erik and to Xili,,,see Mason, Lcona7.d Bl kiri ian s A Transplanted Population, --Human Qrganlration, Vol. 9 , No. 1, Spring 1950, pp. 5-15.

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atoll on March' 6, 1946. Rongerik has i? dry land area of 0.65 square miles, scattered over approximately 17 islands. It has a lagoon area of 55.38 square miles'. than the 2.32-square-mile land area arid 223.40-square-mile lagoon area of Bikini, with its 36 Lslands This is much smaller The attempt to settle at Rowerik was a failure, allegedly due to the Insufficient natural re3ources. A Board of Investigation convened by the Navy on June 2, 1947, recommended that the displaced Bikini an s be moved again. The Blklnians through their leader IIKing" Juda, as he was erroneously christened by romantically minded newsmen, accompanied by three leaders (alab)- of Bikini, inspected Rongerik, Kili, UJllang, Watt0 and Ujae to try to find a suitable place In which to relocate their geople. The Bikini people were Interested in getting back to their ancestral home as rapidly as possible and had allctgedly regarded the past and future resettlements as only temporary. The period from June 2, 1947, to September 1, 1947, was spent In inspecting these possible resettlement areas, On August 26, 1947 the council of t h e ex-Bikini people on Rongerik sent the following letter to the American authorities: Gentlemen: We the council have held a meeting to find the best place to go to. We nave been to some other places to Inspect 2nd h a v e conside red them. In moving we fird it quite a problem. The place we all agreed to stay on

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It m a obvioua that the Bikini leaders refused to acceptI the fact that they would not be allowed to return to Bikini some day and for that reason preferred to suffer the hardshlps of neighboring Rongerik toa new move, In hope of being able to return to their ancestral home. It was decided however, that the best interests of the Bikini people would be served by transferring them t o WJilang Atoll,the weaternmost of the Harshalls. Ujllang belonged t o the government, a s heir tothe Imperial Japanese government which had seized it from Its former German owners, who had . purchased' the tiny atoll from ita former chief .U A group of Bikini men and Navy Seabees arrived at Ujllang i n late November t o prepare a village for another resettlement attempt. Shortly after their arrival, an annoucement w a ~made that the atoll of Enewetak, west of Bikini, and north of UJi lang, 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 theex - Bikini people right where they were six months earlier, but undoubtedly with increased feelings of in security,frustration and general bewilderment. In January Of 1948 Anthropologist Leonard Mason of the University of Hawaii, made a field Invest Ig atl On of the problem at the request of the Navy. H e found among other things that the relocated Bi kl n lans were suffering serious hardships on

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were not getting enough t o eat. Bikini people be moved to another location. He recommended that the Sojourn on Kwajalein Upon the basis of Mason's investigation and recommendation, theex - B lk in lans were again moved toa temporary location on Kwa jsl el n Island In the middle I n March, 1948. city " In the midst of Narshallese workers from far and wide, as well as thousands of American members of the armed forces, the wandering Bi kl n lans awaited the next move. Inspection was made of available and po asl ble location8for Here, in a " tent Once again a tour of The possibilities finally narrowed down t o Wotto Atoll, which was populated, and the sipgle island of Klli i n the southern Marshalls. Kill was not populated and was U.S. The maJorlty of the Bikini people allegedly voted for Kill as against Wotto, and in early November of 1948 the 184 Bi kl ni an s were transferred to Kill Island. The new home of the Bikini people Isa low single coral Island about one and one half miles long, on a n axis of 063' true, and is approximately three - fourths of a mile wide a t Its widest point. The extent of the area is only 0.36 square miles, with no lagoon area and a small fringing reef. This compares 2 The increase In population was caused by t h e addition of Bl kinia ns who nad married out,' plus their spouses and

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very unfavorably, of course, with the2.32 e~uaremiles of dry land area, the 229.40 square miles oflagoon area, and t h e large reef areas of Bikini Atoll. Kill was purchased by German traders from t h e local chiefs and was operated8sa commercial copra plantation by the Germans. The tl tle to the Island was transferred to the Japaneae Qovernment when the Japanese seized the Marshalls in 1914, It was leased to a Japanese company and operated as a aopra plantation until 1940. than about th lrt y Harshallcse laborers working on the plantaThere were allegedly n o t more tion at a time. Food was brought i n from J alu it Atoll, about thirty mflea to the southeast. Chickens and swine were raised t o supplement the imported foodstuffs.A small number of breadfruittrees were planted and used, but the island was primarily a copra plantation.Kill passed ln to the hands of the United States aovernment following World War 11, and the few remaining plantation workers were evacuated. Kill, lying a8 it does i n the southern Marshall, enjoys a heavy rainfall and has rich and deep soil,for the Marshalls. Most of the Island, 198.04 acres have been planted to coconut of the island to the extent of 4.25acw4 There are a number of bearing breadfruit trees,3 some edible pandanus, a3 well a s A taro patch area occ ugie s the center A serious br bad fr iut blight has destroyed many of the trees on Kill and remains uncnecked. A method of con l roll i rig thle menace has not yet been found.

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Unfortunately,the lack of a lagoon or protected snchorage T h ep resents very serious problems to the inhabitant8 of Klli. unfavorable axis 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 many months of the year. the equatorial front lies to the south, and northeasterly winds Wan December through March Landing conditions are therefore generally unfavorable. From November Into late March it is possible to geta boat a ah ore only during a few very brief periods, because of the large breakers which craeh against the rocky beaches. cannot be loaded and trade goods cannot be off-loaded. Theae unfavorable surf conditions naturally prevent utilization of the important marine resources, which a t best are infinitely poorer than those of the atoll of Bikini. The Resettlement on Kill The e x - Bikini people apparently experienced difficulty In adjusting to Kill from almost the very beginning.This was due in part t o the different ecological conditions. The change -from a n atoll ex lat ance where marlne resources were abundant and t h e lagoon and .land areas stretched away 8 8 far a8 t h e eye could see, toa small, isolated Island without a lagoon, and without the rich marine re8ource s which are found in an atoll , environment, was drastic. This psychological attitude toward Kill was and ha.s continued to be a vital imp cy tm ce In the lack of adjustment, The refusal tu accept the move to Kill as final

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and desirable has prevented a wholehearted attempt to adjust to the island. The writer wae closely involved with the former Bikini people during his years of service as District Anthropologist inthe Marshall Island. He lived on K lli for several prolonged periods snd was able to see what life on Kili is like. Inhis opinion the complaints of theex - Bikini people on Kil5. are valld.Conditions are certalrily unfavorable. There are p-aawhen the Island is isolated and the people are very short of food. There Is no doubt that Kill could support a smaller population, If …