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BEST COPY AVAIMBLE MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD VISIT WITH THE PRESIDENT AND THE CABINET OF THE GOVERNME!4T OF THE On May 1, 1979 the new Constitutional Government of the Marshall Islands took office at Majuro. The President, Amata Kabua, 51 years old, is a native of Jaluit Atoll and served as a Senator in the Congress of Micronesia from 1965 when that body was established, until October 1978 when the Harshall Islands separated itself from the Congress. The Ministers of President Ka.bua’s Cabinet (all members of the Nitijela (Parliament)) ?.re listeci on the attachment, as are the Secretaries of the Cabinet Departments. On May 17, 1979, it was my privilege to be invite(i to meet with the President and the Cabinet. I Ihad earlier visited briefly and personally with the President (a long-time acquaintance) to congratulate him upon his election and at that time had Intentioned that there were several items i slloula IIKC co 01SCUS8. lie cl]use cu :llee~ille,accoljlpan]~- this wa; not at all aw~ward. I had known a number of tt]e Ministers earlier. I believe that only }ion. Ata~i Bales, Ninister of Internal Security, was absent, he being in Washington, D.C. President Kabua extended a gracious welcome, with introductions around the table. Then, however, he turned quickly tr business for about an hour of real substance. I had mentioned our wish to gain the cooperation of the Tobolar* Copra Plant for studies which WOU]CI lead to replication of the Tobolar process on a laborato~.y scale at Livernlore. I had discussed this matter earlier with the Government’s Chief Secretary, Oscar deBrum and his staff and *Tobolar: The corporate name of the cooperatively owned Copra Mill at Majuro--the only one In the Marshalls. The word Tobolar is the Marshallese name of a sprouting
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had been advised by them that it would be wise to meet with the Iobolar Board and explain our intentions. It had been suggested also that we might discuss our plans with Joe blurphy, publisher of the Micronesia The President’s reaction to the copra question vias quite surprising. Although he has known for some time of our interest and concern, at this time his reaction was quite negative. He asked, “Why involve LIS at all in this question? If you have questions to which you need answers, why not find your own ways to answer them? If you want to buy some of our oil and cake, do so; but don’t make,a big show of it.” I explained that v:e intended no “big show,” but neither did we plan to try to do this surreptitiously. “We feel that we must be open and candid with you and with the Tobolar Board, and if people have questions about our interest we intencl to be honest with them.” I explained that our main purpose will be to try to understand the Tobolar process in order that the laboratory process may truly represent it. “We also wish to find out how the nutrients in the copra are partitioned between the oil and the cake, how much is in the undissolved solids in the oil, etc.” I stressed that we do not plan to introduce anything into the Tobolar. We just want to observe what is happening there now, in the course of its normal operation. President Kabua asked why the Department of Energy is so interested in the copra question. I responded that there seemed to be two good bases for our interest. First, the economy of Enewetak (and eventually of , dlklnl, sfloulo Chat aLOl I ever cigaln be resettleoj would be neavlly vias actively seeking other sources of copra in order that it might some day reach its production capacity. The President: “Do you think that you will ever be able to say that the oil and cake from Bikini or Enewetak are acceptable for World commerce?” My answer: “I don’t know what standard the World market may apply but I think that there is a very good chance that the oil--properly filtered and processed--may be found to be free of radioactive contamination to be accepted by the market. The President: “Do you really think anyone will believe the United States Department of Energy when it says the oil is safe?” Answer: “I sincerely hope so. But in any case, your market can make its own c}lecks to determine whether the standards are being met. I believe I am correct in my understanding that all of your shipments of copra cake to }{awaii are sampled and analyzed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In just the same way it would seem to me that your customer for oil could sample each shipment and not have to
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rely upon our statements or yOU)-S.” At this point ~!e dropped the copra Next, the President asked “In your persondl opinion, is Enyu a safe place to live?” Ny answer: “That unfortunately is not a yes-or-no question. Unquestionably it would be acceptable to reside on Enyu i-f all or most of your diet came from sources away from Bikini Atoll. If, on the other hand, all or most of yoLIr diet came from Enyu Island, then at least for the next couple of decades you would exceed the U.S. Federal radiation guides. In between these two extremes, there may be a living pattern th~t is realistic and reasonable that woulcl permit resettlement of Erlyu. A new dose assessment for an Enyu settlement has been developed by Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and is now, I believe, being reviewed by DOE Headquarters in Washington. This will be discussed with the Department of the Interior very soon and I presume will include some specific recommendations by the Department of Energy. You have asked for my personal opinion and I guess that’s about as far as I can go at this time.” The President then asked: “What can you tell us about Bikar and Bokar?* We understand from the Chief Secretary, who received his information from the High Commissioner, that both of the<e atolls, which had been considered as relocation sites for Bikini/Kili people, must now be dropped from consideration because of the h]gh radiation levels.” My answer: “I am unaware of any radiological basis for your statements. In the first place, the survey of the Northern Marshalls did not include Bikar, I do not recall at the moment what the aerial measuremerrts sllov~ea,LIuc 1 am conlloent tnat cne numbers were ex~remely low. i assure you that I shall check upon my return to Nevada and advise you further. l-he only data yet available from the Northern Marshalls survey and pertaining to Bikar v~ould be from aerial measurements and I am virtually certain that this would provide no basis for placing any restrictions on Bikarj The President: “k/hat can you tell us about the high incidence of of Resources and Development) has gathered statistics which show that there are 50 or 60 thyroid c~,ses at Likiep. Are these due to the *Bokar is another name for Taongi Atoll (approximately
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Memorandum for Rdcord -4poll ution?’k What is the Department of Energy going to do about it? Will these people be examined?” Answer: “As yOU know, I am not a physician and I am not qualified at all to comment upon thyroicl prcblems and their causes. I have beef? aware of Tony’s data and will assure you that it will be brought to the attention of the responsible and qualified people in Washington. Although I cannot commit them to any specif~c action such a; nations of the 50 or 60 people you mention, I am sure that I them to examining the data that l“ony has and discussing it w The President: “We understand that the entire Northern area Marshall Islands is polluted. Is this true?” Answer: “As you know, there is some radiation everywhere on earth. Some of this is radiation from natural sources, some is widely distributed low level fallout from atomic tests, and some is more intense and localized such as that found at Bikini and Enewetak ancl some areas of Ailinginae, Rongelap and Rongerik. %diation levels elsewhere in the Marshalls are extremely low--lower than most areas in the United States. The results of the Northern Marshalls survey will portray these conThe President: “When will the results of tile survey of the Northern Answer: “All of the aerial measurements data are now available and are being considered In the colnt~nuing analysis and evaluation which should be ready for reporting about now in Washington. l-he balance of the work will continue for many months and priority will be given to those islands and atolls which are or may be inhabited and which are known from the aerial -survey to have measurable c~ntarnination.” The President: “As you know, we are very anxious to have that information as soon as possible. Now on behalf of myself and the Ministers of the Cabinet, I thank you for takinq the time to visit with us. None of us are trying to emba~rass the Uni~ed States, but we do informed. You are always candid with us and we appreciate *President Kabua has consistently used the term for radioactive contamination.
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Memorandum for Record -5Answer: “Thank you, Nr. President, and thank all of the Ilinl$ters for Final Note: Since I neither took notes nor recorded this meeting, the above is essentially paraphrase based upon notes made immediately after the Ineeting. Certain matters of lesser significance and the “small talk” pleasantries are omitted.
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Ministpr of Finance - Atjang Paul (Ail inglaplap) binister of Communication and Transportation - Ruben R. Zackhras (Ailinglaplap) Minister of Resources and Development - Kessai Note (Jabot) Minister of Public Works - Kunar Abner (Ailuk} Minister of Education - Tom Kijiner (Likiep) Minister of Public Health - Henry Samuel (Majuro) Minister of Internal Affairs - Milfred Kendall (Majuro) Minister of Internal Security - Ataji Bales (Kwajalein)