DECLASSIFIED C Authority ' NNOq$2- q3L j UNITED STATES 1 __ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1 ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION WASHINGTON 25 D C · December 2 1954 The Honorable John Foster Dulles 'lhe Secretary of State Dear Mr Secretary 1 1001-i I-'· J l Q 1' t--' e JY c tlm fl t1 I tll Vl f t f 1 ¥ -- g ' I-' - I In my letter dated September 30 to Under Secretary Walter Bedell Smith I noted the Connnission's interest in an expeditious settlement of the problems a arising from the use of certain locations in the Marshall Islands for the • conduct of nuclear experiments Mr Smith in his letter of September 11 01 g forwarding copies of letters received from Ambassador Lodge and Mr Mason 0 Sears had requested that the Commission inform the Department of State o f 7 the steps being taken to carry out the connni tments made by the U S Gove a i 1 ment to the Marshall Islanders affected by the Pacific tests In my inte rt am I' letter to Mr Smith I stated that the Commission would prepare a detailed¢ a reply on this subject I i In the recent meetings of the U N Trusteeship Council the United States 1 gave assurances that it would take every precaution to prevent the recur- h rence of casualties as a result of fallout such as occurred following the March 1 experiment As you l' now immediately following that test which was the f'irst of the Castle series the warning area around the test site was greatly enlarged A warning area of similar scope will certainly be established in any future experiments conducted in the Pacific Proving Grounds You may be assured that the Commission is determined that no repetition of such an accident shall occur I I g 01 I'- 0 en -I r As Mr Mason Sears has recorded in n1s letter to you of July 23 a copy of which Mr Smith forwarded to the Commission with his letter of September 11 there are two outstanding problems which relate to compensation to the Marshall Islanders as the result of Pacific test activities The first of these concerns co nsation due the inhabitants of Bikini who were dis- 'placed in 1946 In respect to this aspect of the problem a Memorandum o f Understanding is now being negotiated between the Departments of Navy ajicl Interior under the tenns of which use and occupancy agreements will be ' '' ' -i _ negotiated between the Department of the Navy and the Government of the t Trust Territory for the use of Bikini and Eniwetok atolls by the Atomic n 1 Energy Commission The Commission has authorized the Department of Navfi to represent the Connnission in these negotiations As presently visuali d '- _ the agreements for the use of Bikini and Eniwetok when completed will 1 'i provide for lump sum payments to the Government of Trust Territory from - ' funds a ppropriai ed by the Congress to the Department of the Navy These·· payments will enable the Goverrunent of Trust Territory to compensate the 1 l r- iJ 11111 IHl•11·· IP 1 11 Df C 2 J954 d 0 I This material contains informatbn ai'f c L th national defc 1se of the Un teJ SL ites wit the meaning d ti r ·• · · • li ' '3 'l' l b 13 _U S C Secs 793 arid 701 foi3 tl 1 is lon or_ revek tion of whic n lc 11 11 c usr to an unauthonzed person is proh1b1ted by law 1· Q· f l GeN FIDENTIAt - 2 - ikinians The Cormnission has been advised that the Department of the Navy is continuing the negotiations with the Department of Interior and it is our hope that this aspect of the compensation matter can be finally discharged in the near'future The second aspect of this problem refers to the lromises made to compensa the Rongelap and_Qterik peo ele for damages resulting from the Ma fall- out The Department of Defense under authority derived from ffie Foreign _i$ j ·claims Act has agreed to consider and settle these claims It should be f v ✓' _ noted however that such claims must be presented within one y_ear after '-Iv- y-Y k the occurrence of the incident out of which the claim arises The Commis-L 1 f 1Y1 sion is not aware that any claims from the people of Rongelap and Uterik n ' J - have yet been received i y ' ' Irmnediately after the March 1 fallout it was deemed necessary as you k ow to remove the natives of Rongelap and Uterik to jalein for medical ' · observation and care The natives received the finest medical attention · h · • available It soon became apparent that the natives of Uterik had not been · '7 ' exposed to dangerous amounts of radioa cti ve fallout and they were returned VI · to their native homes under living conditions equivalent to or better than those existing before their evacuation Continued medical attention was given however to the natives of Rongelap who had received significant amounts of radioactive contamination Because of residual radioactivity on Rongelap it was deemed wise to resettle the Rongelapians on another atoll until the activity had decayed to a safe level These people have therefore been temporarily housed on the island of Ejit in Majuro Atoll Housing was constructed for them under supervision of an A E C contractor using funds supplied by Joint Task Force 7 These houses of plywood with aluminum roofs have been so constructed as to make it possible to remove them to the natives' original home when it is safe tor them to return Meanwhile the Atomic Energy Commission has accepted the responsibility for continued medical examinations of the natives of Rongelap as a routine precautionary measure The first medical recheck has just recently been completed and was conducted for the Commission by medical teams from the Naval Medical Research Institute and the Navy Radiological Defense Laboratory The preliminary report of these medical teams has been reviewed in the Cormnission and s that no Eermanent impairment of the natives' health is to be expected A further medical recheck will take place l y around-February 1955 and further checks will be made thereafter The A E C has also accepted the responsibility for such periodic resurveys of Rongelap and the collection of biological specimens and soil samples as may be necessary to determine the earliest possible time when the natives may be safely returned to their homes The tirst such resurvey is presently being planned and it is expected that it will be made within the next two months It is still the Commission 1 s view that the residual level of radioactivity will d cay to insignificance and the natives will be returned to their homes by May 1955 ·-· - q· 3l i utb ority rJ O'i 2_ _ OY DECLASSIFiiD ic-2 - 3 - You will be interested in two further programs which the Commission is considering in order to improve the living conditions of the Marshall Islanders · Acting on a suggestion made originally by Mr Midkiff then High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands the Commission has agreed to bear the cost of constructing an island communication system between Kili and Jaluit and the construction of' family housing units on Jaluit which Will enable the Bikinia ns on Kili to fish in the lagoon at Jaluit It is planned that the actual construction will be supervised by A E C contractor personnel and paid for from A E c funds llie Commission's Division of Biology and Medicine in cooperation with the 'l'rust Territory and the University of Hawaii is investigating the possioility of undertaking certain agricultural programs to increase food production for the people on Kill and Majuro and fqr the Marshall Islands generally The objective is to provide the islanders displaced from their homes by the Pacific experiments with a satisfactory ecological environment This i roject in which the Commission is deeply interested would have an importance to the Marshallese t'a r beyond the alleviation of distress arising from the conduct of nuclear experiments I hope that the information 'Which is set forth in this letter will place the Department in the position to deal effectively with any charges which may be made in the United Nations discussions or elsewhere concerning our test activities in the Trust Territory Inasmuch as the responsibility for carrying out the commitments made to the Marshall Islanders a re shared with the Commission by the Department of Defense and the Department of Interior I have taken the liberty of fl sending copies of this letter to Secretary Wilson and Secretary McKay Sincerely yours Chairman DECLASSIFIED Autllority 673 NO qS2- q3L DEPARTMENT OF STATE SPECIAL A JSISTANT TO THE SECRETARY December 13 r 1954 OD A - Mr Gerig '211 c o t 1 $ p' 0 Attached is the original of a letter dated December 2 to the i tJ w Secretary from AEC Chairman Strauss which sets forth in detail acti n J that has been taken to ameliorate the lot of the Marshallese No J - g reply has been made to this letter n has it been acknowledged 01 Olm -- - - c Gerard C Smith tj l ' r-' Attachment I ij i -- p ' V'I 01-· - t' l cy Orig of ltr to Sec fm A EC Chairman I Strauss dtd 12 2 $4 0 CIJ '