. hlBQITJAlUNIQUE DOCW~p--.—.-.~.

I have recorded some of the observationsmade duri~- my tisit toJapPa to assist in the various problems arising out of the rnishaytothe =- 1,~.~. I .= ~e~,di>~this along tO You at this time becauseiou will no &ouht want a yreli~inary report prior to my return to theT?

States ii:about 2 weeks.

This ne.noranfiumis intended to augaent the report that ~r. Mortonwill eubnit to you. I have attempted to linit myself to factore otherthan those associated with toe clinic~ phases of the problem, titllwhichOr. l!arton~sgroup are concerned.

Thismaterialcon+..-.insinforfi~ationaffcctingthe. .national~efen5coftheunkcd StStM wlth~n the

meanh’wofthe espionage]aws, TitleIs)‘.S.C”’

Sees. 793 and 794, the tra]:smissfi.n or revelation

TIE ~i~C13ENT

ofwhichin any ma~:ncr to ailUD:.uthorized person~5 ~rahil~ited ~Y law.

The mishap which befell the Tukur:m Mm beceme lmowm to the ?klbassyeti the wcrld on ikxrck16 through rc20rts in the Jap.=~esepress. Thiswas two d~~s -st~r the 100.-tonfishing vessel had returned to its homeport of Yaizu. l’hcfacts Df tilei~cii.cr.t,=.sdcterminxi b-ythe Japmeso

Zoreiql Office aii cmnunicatct. (1) to tic Ambassador, =C %s follows:

(1)The course of the vessel from its departure on Jexwu’y 27’to its re- .t~,: to Yaizu on ;i=+clh14 is plott+d in l’i~m”eIo. 1* At 0412 ~WWS onE=wc3 1 9.streak of li~fitreported %j*the crew is believed to identify thethe of detonation. The vessel!s position was approximtclY llo 5@~ north%li 1660 3~~ C=lst. This position is Orl.-a few ~ilcs from the easternmostlinit of tti :L=.sb.dl Islands iargcr area i:.effect at that time.

(2) Two-ble.stsin succession were heard alout 7 or 8 ainutes after

the li&t hac bcon seen. Thc crew is reportc:.to have becone apprehensive+ill3Ggan at that time to haul in their fishing lines, P.-operation wnichco:itinucdwltil 1030 hours, at which time the vessel headed north.“to getout of the area”.

(3) At P.bout07W on M=chl, ashcsbogantof~’1, turriingth~ deckwkitc. The position of the vessel at t~i$stine is @vs?L 4: LiO 5C 7/4’north and 166° 42&~ ext.~t;~sitim of the Vessel W% 0st~&~@&2°0~1

INFORMATION

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(4) At 0443 hours cnlk?ch 2, the V06S03 Aiftod’’’tt%+bksc to=~= ‘ ‘- ‘-its home port of YF.izu,where it arrived at 0600 onMPxti 14.

(5) In tho following two or three d~s, all tho crow reported slighthcadaoh~s =md scmc of thcm wcro sfi.uscous.In 7 or 6 @s, ovidcncc of burnson cxposod pcrts of the body began to appo?x. .

In rcsponso to certain quostion~ which ttn Ambawmdor asked theii’orcignScrvicc, the following Informationwa# rccoivod. It sheds SCmC

light on the scqucnco of cvcnte during the 2 X6 followi% tho rct~nof-the ~ ~m to Yaizu, butattention of the ZmbaosY*

(1) The orcw first ccntactodFishcrm~znlsUnion. On the day ofeffsctcd consultod eplqwici.an of

(2) Two of the fishc~cn,

boforo the mishsp had cane to the

the shipfs cwncr, and tho director of thethc$r return orowmcmbcrs whowcrc scr$cuslythe Qoritsu Hospital~ .

and , who were in moro seriouscondition left the ~orltsu on M=ch u for Tokyo whore they visited 3octorShimizu at tho T’okyoUniversity Hospital.

(3) Professor Shiolcawemadoradiation mcasWomcnte OS tho ship on~~e=fi16 .~a On th~ basis @ his findings al & the cro~mombcrs consultoda physiiim who rcccmmcndod that the mcn bo hcspitdizods

TEE IU3El03’THX JAF=JWXE SCIENTISTS

During tho >attcr W of kkch the Jayuicso pro~s WP.Sfod continuallywith scnsation=d statementsfrom Japanese Scientists. The motivationsof the JapPacso were never quite wdcrstood by us but the follmfi% factors~=y hc Cn=cratod as p~tincn~ to our 1~~ of progross in dcding With th~:

(1) In a lcng priv”.tccorivcrsationthat I had with Dr. Tsuzulciat hiBhome on the cvc~ing of M?rch 24, hc was fr%nk in stating his ~~chonsionthat the American scientistswould deny him and his associates profossion~drecognition duo thcnifor their accomplishmentsti tho di%nosis ~ trca*

b

mcmt of tk f shormc% HO rofqrcd froqucntly to hie oxpcrionco inlgdswincn!lQload he tcwns of Japancso invcstig”.torsinto Hiroshima and Nagasakionljrt~ hav his work intcrruptodby tho Occupation invcatigatorswhoundertook their own 8tudics, Drti!$susukisoomcd to accept my aesurancca thatin the present situ?%tion it was tho intent of tho American scientists toassist tho Jap”mcsc mci th~.tall of our findings would bo .avail~lc to thcmand could bc usxi as tilcy saw fit in their okm publications~

b. T-i ws outimdly friendly to both Dr. Morton@WEClfuntil the time of his dopmrturc for Goncva on MPxch 310 ~ospito this, thC

lack of cooperation continued to bc manifest on the part of the Japancsoinvestigators. T do not knew whothor this WRS bocauso wo misjudged Dr,Tsuzulci!sfriondlincss, or bccausc hc lacked influcnoc)on his JapanesecGllo~os. pRl\I}ic’(ACTh!ATERIALREMOVED

(2) mCrC was much cv$dcncc of riva@y Fwong veriuG,sJap=acsc medicalgroups. b particular, the staff at TOQO University. h-iod by ‘~e TS_Owere initirlly at odds with the group at the Nation%l ]nvtitv”:;c of limlth~hcticd by Dr. ~obe~~ashi. Morocvcr, the local @ysicims at Taizu, where?11 but two of tho p~.tiontswore hospitalized until M.?arch2’3$ wurc D-CUs$or wricus reasons t.kt the rmticnte remain tkrco ~ctr ~D* of cccpor=.ticn

.,- ,,.,/’ .

In my initiel conforoncc with tho J=~Paosc scientists I ms forcodto the conclusion tlv.tthey were not WC1l oqui~>podto Loal pruporly withthe radiolo<:ic=,l“.sycts of the problm. TGr CZGUZIIC:

(1) Sonc Gf the to~ scientists tock the position th”,tbocauso ancw Hn2 of boni w2.sinwlvcd~ the ~roblcn itself v.m P.ncw one, *ICIthat moss they how al ~OUt tho b~b, they cotid c-uate ‘oiticrthe injury to the fishcrnon nor the =.s~cctof long-r~a~o cont~irr.tionof J“.pm @. its fiski~:;crews thxaxhmt tho ?P.CifiCO

(2) They wmc quick t~ Wontify quditativoly smo of the radioactiveisotopes $n tho ash m~ inrd.iatcly conclu~ed that Lqmsitim of thesera:.io-isotoposin the tissues of the ncn was the prim factor *D theirncdic7ilStztus. This toc$sim was rc?.chc:withnxt bcnafit of r=lio-chmiceiluriac an?lyses of the :mticnts, This pr>cch.ro which was beyond the cqa-%ility 4 their b.bor~.toriesis of course S.~rorcqytslte to unckmstandi~-the mcmnt and kind cf fiseim ;>roCuct<ceor@im that Rctually occurot.

(3) The Univ~sity of TOSO ~ouy ~’.ministcret.parcnklly a nassiv;dose of %>- t3 nc mouse, r.nt,follovin~ s~.crifico12 hours later, do-tcraincd bs’rg~9;:Ta~~ that rd.inactivity WF.S2rcBent in the nouso skeleton.The tictifityGf the tisc wae not =cP.surob Thc fact th?.ttho radioactivitywas Lotccto;.by the scientists in the skeleton cf the EOUSC wzs tid~~pu-clicizu(-:Lscvilmcc for their conclusion that the ~x.ticntswere carrying,.:~-orousi~trxnal Cc>osits of raido~.ctiveisotopes.

As inc’.itihels,the scientists sccnc:.Psxious to coopcrat% In winiti”~ conversationswith then they freely fl.sko?.for help ‘Qc s@ne~~Tetifioc’.~.tsom of the thi~-s th-.two could.?.0for then. I@ :Xa%ictp”.tionon the .Ancric.znto~n was l~~tto~ to the r~liolo;:ic’~‘>sj?cctsof the caseant.only incid.ontrllyto the ;mticnts thcmsclvcs. UrXcrtun%td.y the natureof Jr. Morton~s perticti~ationroquircl that hc bc Given Mrcct F.CCOSSto thopatients am. this the J*.p”moscconsistcntQ rcfusod t.~~~~.ntc As the d:~S

~7cnt b~ ,=-a:.thoJe;>~CSC hLCXXM Doro rcs~lute in their Cccision to donY~CCCSS tO the >aticnts, other @XCaS Gf the 2rOblCXltGCF12Cinfcctod by thOuncoopcr.at$veetnosphcrc. Tnis will hccono wioy-rentin subsoqu~t~mtions of tb report.

When I %mivod in Tokyo on lkch 22 3r. Morton hexlalrmly off=ct tothe Jepenosc the full f~~ilitics cf thc Atonic 3omb C-,sudity Comission:Goncr?ilHull W likewise offcrc~.tlncfac~litics cf tho-y~ ~,~,stCommdsThose offers were mxon:)mic:lby 2 spirit of syzrp~.thyanl:.the desire toassist the Jap~osc invcett~~.torsin their efforts to ev~l~-.totheinci~cnt ant-to restoro the health of the fishemcn, -ita rmctifi.;Vdth toP

—-. —.

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‘.”) -. /’. .

4

Jnpmesc scientists sad government officials

A.-

on March 24, I m,@e a further—Offer, in %ehdf of the AtOBiC Ener~- (bZZiSsiOP.jtcJTrcVide Whateverfacilities were availa%le for cval.uz.tiono: t:e radiolc~ice~ factors in-volved in ti:e incident. I rcpcatoi the assurances repeated c=rlier by M.Morton that we wished sincacly to be of assist=ce, that our pezticip=tionwas n~t moiivated (as some Japanese suggested)‘bythe opportunitiesfor .scier,zificstudies$ m-.Gt;latwhatever data we obtained would be turned~~er t~ the Jf~~mese invcsti~ators tc bc used %7 tl~a.in any way they SaW fit.

At this point it would be desirable to list the radiologice~ studieswkich had been already made by the Japanese. Those studies arc of interestbccaase they indicate thecxtent of Japanese capabilities in this fielL, ~ddefino the cxt~ilt to which.our facilities wofid he ‘hclpf@ to the JRP~OSGP

(1) ‘Jsinge.Cutic?ic, t>-eyneasured the r~ioactivity Of the F.lkW~”U~@x~ IThescdata aplpearcompletel:-satisfactoryand prove to be in goodagrecncnt with measurements E@e with Americsn cal.ilratcdoquipnent.

(2) Tne~7r,eamed ru-.ioaciivi@ of the fish and fishermen, usingportable suney oquiprAent.Howeva?, their equipment was not calibrated-d their &~ta Were given in c~ts per minute as determined by the ori~inal

factor; calibration.

(3) They determined that the.ai~ recovered from the vessel wasradl.aactiveusing %’.end window W. tube and scaler. Their counting systemwas not calibrated an~ they reported counts per ninute with no knowledgeof the factor required to convert t.hir dbte to standard units.

(4) They conpleted a qualitative radioclic~icalanalysis of the asharrLremorted t!lefGllowik-; Sr89, Y51, Zr95, XW5n, h%95, Itu103tIM.06SW05,’Sb127,rGc~~~tQ7thejrisotopes).

(5) Tiiej-

(6) Theyearlier.

Te132, 1131’~1132, j.dAO, Le140, Cel<l, Cel&. (1’torehhvticompletc~ n semi-quantitativeanalysis for afcw

fi-q,dsc~~ed tileb,~dies~f t]lefisher~en V{ithA GM pTOh~9

had atiinistered a dose of ?s>-tG 1 mouse, as described

, (7) Win; an ine~sior-t;qm W tube, they,h%d demmstrated radio-.

activity in t:leuri~.eof 3 fishermen. As before, their cquipnent was notcalibrated ai the a-bs:luteactivity cml~ not bu determined.

Wit;:t~is as the status of t!leirinvestig”.tionat the tine of m:-=rivdsad following several hours duri~- which I acquainted the J%panosc with-ourexperience in t:.isfield, I offered the following services to than:

(1) Complete radiochernical.anslysisof 24 hour urine collectionsfrom all patients. In view of the importance of this ardYsis in e~du=.tin~the status of the patients,@ nx”gedtimt these samples %C furnishedhmediateQ and assured then that in one week it wouldbe possible toGive thee.a report for the constituents of princip~l biologic~ importmice.I explained the need for seri~ sruzplesan. sug6ested that collectionsbe

They seeied ezxious to accert this service.

.,. .

* W,..kL

1

/

AOT!IOI:: Zhis offer wasurine from two patients, Onhave not obtained urine from?C?.tedRttwl?te to co 80.

3AC on lt:mch2.:. On Martin2C we o%teinedApril 1 wc obtainf3Lurine from 5 nore. Wothe remairhg 16 patients despite our re-

(2) I 0fferc5 to scan the fishcrmon for radiatioa, using two Scinti-llleterstkat I hat!Flvailablo.

ACTION: I have been unable to do this because they five not pcrmittc<-thc American tem to have access to the p4tients.

(3) In response t~ the Jepmcsc request I offme~. to protiie a reporton t:.ebiologically si-mific.antrac’.ie-isoto>eepresent iz the ash

ACTION: Dr. ?SS&aizmi Gave m a mdl ~~otuntof ?.ccksweepirgs fronthe Tuhqm km. This I hmc sent to tno Hcaltk anl Safety Lahorator7for futurc stutg-. 2he conpositlon of the ash was adm=lly l=own to theConnission from arklyscs performed hy tiicAir ?orco on tilematerial obtainedfroa the Ftiiur3wlAru prior tG EX:visit. &thorization for transmissionof this info~-ztion tG the JaQanese was communicated to me in telesrm No.2199 frm tkc Secret=q of State to the Adw.ssador. I tremnitte~ thisil~fi”omatimto Z&. Zob~oslhi on April 7,

. (4) I offered to =rangp for m-daal stut.ieswhich would proddeuseful i~~ornation on absorption ant-mctatolism of the v=xious raLio-c>.enic~lconponmts of the ash.

44CTIViT: ThC J%:X&YcSC rc~mtef. the extent of the total smount of P.S3recovered as 50 nillocwicsoad lhavcno inventory of theask twrie~.over to m by Dr.on a su%scqumt visit t~ theto us.

(~) 111response to JapELlesorOquests$ I agvced to recomxri. monitoringprocedures for the tuna inspectors,

ACTION: lio:~itorin~procet.ureWRS devised 3ut I Lcferre& t!- questionof n=xicm.mpcrmiSS=%113centeninatim until more i.nformtionbecme mmild)lcOn the cfient P.ndt;~c of contmin4tion. I ~~ecd to st=m:.by until thefirst cmtmin~.t~<. txma were fouzzd?)yins~ection, at vhich’time I woul?.soto the scone of inspection ant.rccor::cd.specifically m the basis of W o~mobservations wheth~r the catck shcml:.tc %ccoptcd w rejecte<. As note<.

elsewhere in some detail, the Jaycnese never permitted mc to examine tunawhich was alle?.gelycent.eminatcd.

The ziskap lm the I?uJmqm Mm created a number of separate,but inter-related yroblems. Of tkmse, tko nest urgent was the clinical status ofthe 23 fidacrncn, a sdject with whiclhDr. NGrton is exclusively concorncd

ai. R.cQutvkich he will report seymtely. Other problons which requireattcy.tionwcro:

&-:.

. . \

/’

(1) Cont~inateL

(2) Apprehensioning grounik~

(3) Re.tdologicalfactors affoctin~ the fishc~cn:

(P.)Zsttiatiq; the whoioboCy cksc.

(b) Esttiatcd dosofromintmn=l emitters.

Cont~=inntc-.Tun=.

SODC of the Jaymo$c Govcrnncnt 05iciFLs Pr< plro”~ referring tothe latter h~lf of Merch as the ‘bwoat turA pmic~. The orisin of this

S&%$

ponic both~oi t United St~tcs ~?~.Japm_Lis wmthy of c%rcfti studY.~. I’hccxtcnt~ o tune cmsunytion $n the IJnitodStates and “J~pPaLeclirmd

duriqg the soccnd half of W.rch is not ~own to DC et this tinc~ For

a c’.=Ynrior to Xr ?.oyzturc fron New York on Wrch 19, Pa;.for 2 wocks.follov&~ ay ~rivd in T.okyoonlkxch 22 the s@ject of ra?ioactivc tunaWP.Sa mibjoct of po~ar convcmsation. Whop ono COnB%dCrB the reactionof tho informeC hcricau @clic to the yossibilitics of contamination oftuna it is Dot surprisi~- that tho Ja~3ancsQwcru stem?cdc:.into appr~hensiog over the immc:i~.tcproqocts of tacir oet~ radioactive tunaan:-tlz lorg-range ?rosjocts of their fishing bmoun~s teing ruined.

(A) Tuna Fishin;:Infiustr>rof Jaxn &/

!%c Je@,ne8e fishing fleet at the promnt tine consists of ehout1,000 VOSSOIS o~cr-.ti~-out of tcn major ports. The annual value of thetuna cetch ~PJrOti?3tG6 $26 dlliOG Thc princi>=l c~ort Spocics isaltacor. Sixty porccnt of the landed ?lbacor catch went to Jap?aesocmncrs “ZICforty pcrcont was ShiPL>Odehroat in frcczorse Sixty porcont

of the albacor am c=.%xhtin tho sunmr season whioh mtcn?.s fron Maythro~-h Jtiy. Duriq: this seasbn, the fishim; grounds sm locatodrcle.tivclyclose to the Asiatic ccast.

lwrin~ the winter ~onths, JPauv throu@M~sch, tho JEPPJIOSCVOSSOIS ranoo fer out tc 80% The winter t3e=.sonzccmntf9 fm fortypcrccnt of the a- c~.tch.

(3) ContminatcC Tuna in Jamn

kc ~CYU1kWU l“~dCd at Ytizu tith R c~.tchof 28$000 i>o~d~ oftuaa. WC met accept the fact that those tuna mrc cxccssivclY cm-tP2in.2tcLan~ that tho Lecision of the JE?ancsc to disposo of these

_. An oxccllcnt report ofLtuna fisheries in Jwp=a issources Soctim of SC&2min

c

.-. .-.

a wise one. There is reason t~ bclicvc tnat contaminationwasto the surface of t>c f$sh SZ.LCc.’--=c.-.h;:c::t::crP.t.5G?.cti-v-c“::’‘ee~~tercdthe s?.ip’8h.:,ld.

the decision cf the United States Food and D& Administrationto aoaitor inccmin;;shipments of tu.m, the shippin; companies operatingc-~tof Ja>an initiatecla requiremnt th-?.tthe JaPancse certify e~ortski>~.catsas bein~ free cf radioacti~ity.

When I arrived in Japan on March 22, the Japanese had alrea~y monit~redtheir first outgoing shipnent of frozen tuna. The Ninistry of Yolfaroundertook to hav~ its s~itntion inspectors trained in tili~ use of geigcrcountors an:.bcg.anthe rvatine inspection of both intoning and outgoin~tuna at five yorts. All vessels were instructed to return to onc af tnesoports. li.vc:ei~’orcounters were ~ltaine~ froa the I& East Conmd ad Llosncd tG the Japmesoo h d.~.itioIl, tfie~mstcre~ approximtol.y the smenuder from vPxious sources in Japan.

Cn ]ii~c~2J.., ~.ta c~nferencc wit>.the Japanese Government officials,they ~.skct.f ~i” my roconmcndation for naximm percissi%le contamination.They also asked that I recommend the kini of oxsmination that should ‘benab of the fish.

Becauso of my unf~ilierity with the mechanics~ Lotails of handJ.i%-tuna shipnents, I s~-{;estcLthat I be pernittcd to study tuna lo=din~operations sche{.ulwifor tkc fcllowing dair. !13wreuponit was arrsmgetthat I shotiL ?.ccGcJaayJapanese officials to Yokoh.?xlawhere the ~atanwas Icing 10As[. with frozen a13acor.

Wn.a sliipnontsinvolve ~a~- fish and it is not em easy matter to ~o~itoi-pr~pcrly with inc.xperiencedpersonnel =d only R few sur’:cyinstr~cnts~%sc:. m ny inspection of the 3at~a$ i sug~estet that every tenth fish %Caonitorct.for a%out 1 ninute by passing arnopen window Gilprobe over=thesurface of the fish, payin~ yrticul.er attention t~ the gills. I EihO

instructed Lhcn to insert the probe into the mouth of the tuna and intotkc e.%domiaalincision tkuou:h the fish.

‘N-cr.remained.the question of criteria for rejection of fish founito he cGntenin.%tcd. Again it is not a siaplo natter to evaluate the risk%0 % ccmsumcr of tuna fron neasurcmnts na~e in this w~~. I informed the

Ja.@nest thzt I was vaabltito ?rsp~sc a realistic fi~vc without smestudy. On t}.eother hand it W=S my%clief that significazz~tlycontessinatc?~fisk wero not likefii’to 30 fCUnto Low level fKll out to the skins ofthofish w=s, of course, 8 2ossi3ility. Tb-isseemed to be of little signific=tilcein view of existin~ cannery practices which strips the skins from tkfishwhen processiu~ %cgins. I tol<.the Japanese I wouli.be standi~- by inToQ-o, tiat tlloysnould’co:~tinucto monitor tb fish by the :..ethoi.Iproposed, .sa;-tka% when and if ccntauinatoJ fish were found I siould bca~vised ant.~~ivcnthe Opportunity inncdiately to rmkc a first ~-ZmLinspGctiOnof the fish. :*U?reco~.en~ati~nfj?Iofi~fi-epenc’.on what I foun2.

No contmina.tct tu~a have %tionbrc,w:h.tto wv attention. Nowspapcrshe.vcoccasionally reportct inconin-:shipncr-tsof contwinate~- fish but t~zoJ&4anesc had not reqtusst .

\

that I wake an exaninatton of then....,% “~.

coml

.

The f:llowin~ ecqucncc of ovcnts illustrates socc of tho ~difficulticsWC h~.vchad:

(1) On M=oh 31 we road in onc of the Tokyo English languago newe-“’%:Cr6 of two fishing vessels th-.twcro contaminated.-. 50 Zmbassy oaUOdtk hinistry of I’orci{m~ff~irs who rcportd. the following info~tionhytcluphonc:

(q) TheKoci kkru, then at tho port of i~isaki,was at 9 Log=ocs,22 ninutcs north$ 1’78dob~oes, 19 minutes east on Mamh 1. mo -f=oof tho &tip W-.8 rc?.din::2443 ccunts pm ninuto, the catch 155 counts p~r ninUtcP~.dt.% mcn 500 counts pm rrinutc. The fish hadbccn impoundod awdtinc aLccision as to their sticty.

(%) T31eMYojiim Mm-u wzs P.tShioGonc. On MP-rch1 tt mat 29losTccs, 8 ninutcs Dorth, 177 dce~ccs, 19 mlnutcs cmt. me surface ofthe ship was rc?.li~z50 to 400 counts pm ninutc, tho fish 56 to 84 countsper minute, and the crew <Q to 90 counts pcr minuh.

(2) ~o tiba88y inforned tholfinist~ ofwdfare ofmy interest in eo~‘i~:the shi2EianC fish E@. toll them a special piano would be mailablo tofly mc to the two ports. Tlu Yorc&gg QfficO W.S roquoetci!to s.rmwgc fcraccosB to tho VOSSC1O an: was invited to ●on~ whocvor they wished to Leeig-natc with mo OD this trip. +L#’li&t WS scho~ulcd for o.arlyon tho norn~of A2ril 2.

(3) A poundnoon on &xil 1 tho Foroi.~ Ministry called the Ilnbassyand advised that the Myojiim MPru had left Shiogonc that norning, th=.titsLestin-.tionwas not known, and that tb fish h<. %oen disposod of in anunknown manner. Thc Embassy informed the Yoreign Ministry that, thi8 be-in~ th case, wo would limit our trip to Xisaki.

(4) At 47X on the afternoon of A#l 1 the Forci5gnMinis@ s@.ncalled to inform the Eiabassythat tic Kooi M=iruhad left the port of Misskione hOui”before to dunp its contamin’.tcdc%tclhat sea, The Emhssy askedtho Torc$gn Ministry to call the VCSSC1 back ine.much BS it was only Onchcur off port but the Japancso stat&! this could not bc aocorr>lishc~.

To sunmerizo the tuna situ-~tion,it is my bolicf that no s&SnificantlYcont?ainatcd tuna havtiarrivcq in Japea cxcopt for the catch from the FukurYuMarq Ri<orous ins--cctionsproceturos will undoubtedly discloso certainawunts of low lCVC1 radioactivity on tho qurfam of the tuna but thosib-ificeacc of this is nin$mizcd by tho practico of sldnning tuna priorto canni~. In the noontipc the tuna merkct hes etahilizod mxt tunaroprcscntstivcs‘of&mricen tuna intcrosts ham informoclme that theircon-panicsarc no IcnGcr conccrncd ovor the problcn.

I

..-,,.. ..$

.,

k

Amrohonsion of LonK RanRc Contmin=.tion of J.a-maSUX7.ItsFishil%T Grmllce

Jqmcsc a~>;>rehcnsionsmm the possibility of lon~ rangerarliolo:;icalcontamin~tionwere very stiilrx to those we en-countcro< in the Unitot.Stctos %s & result of ‘NPGo?or~.tion% .

A tiffcrcnco in J“QPa is due to the f~.ctth’.tnono, if any, ofthe counting oqulpcmt is calilx~.ted.,~~ tub~s ~c used I(JithCUtSh.iCl:-S,

and under coalitions whoro the %ac~~ount. count is apt tobo hi#Qy v?xi%blc,This, ccu~>leLwith the fact that thy do not know the baolq~roun?.activitiesof SUA tkinp as soil =d biolo,;ic.”1nntori~s$ dcos it very ?.i.fficultto cvdmto the rcpmts. May of t.% reports cf l!~sh~ f~lin(: in ~-~i~us

p=ts of Ja?an arc umloubtc~ dust or s~ot falls that occur norm”lly $namy inilustrialsroa from tine ta tia% R~putP.blcscientists have cxminodswrplea of potassiua-rich Gcil %zi.h~.vcrcpartcd their data ill:.~osscounts without a3y rcfcrcncc to nomwil soil back.qoundo For this rcmson

I fin?.it very Lifficult t~ td:e serious tho frcqumt public rc>ort of50 to 100 couats ~or ninutc for the uns~ccifio& sizo nf s?~plcs,re~ortcd.fron time to ttice

At my confc=cnco with tb JaFan scientists md government officialson Mcrch X, I cxylained tho procct.urcswc usc in the States formo=,suring$allout. X urga’.thm to uso stiilar yocebaros f= thosekc of uniformi~ and offorix’. to lmn then the oquipont wc USOL Theysoemo(ioagcr to accept end I requos to& 4 sots cf eqyl-pmontwhich hassbcc ~srivcd fro~ the Stetos. IIowcvcr,since the arrival of thisoqtiycnt, I have dclP<refl~ivin~ it to tho JaUmcso bccausc in thcbprceont state of 13LT6littlo gco:.COUJ.Ccone ~f it. I Co believe,however, ti<l,~.twhen th,c~)rcsontconfusion suhsitcs,”it will b e usefulfor the Jap~ncso to m.intain a fall out monitorin~ network md I thinkwc shoult cooycrate with them t~ tk.cful.lostextent.

In a conferenoc with Z&, Xo-w.yoshion March 26, I informod bin ofw conversationtnlthDr. W&her and hie offer in behalf of the AtomicEncr~ Commission to prov$dc financicl smport for necinc hiolOgicalstudies dircctod at the lonG r--c omtanination of *ho Pacific. m.Kolsyodi. throu@ his intcqrotor, cx~r~ssc?,his qxcciation for thisoff~s~ but did not Fursue the n~ttcr further md h=.enot ap~roachodm sinca,

With ro~sxd to fellout m the Jq=ncse islands th,msclvcs, it is tobo rcncnberod that the ~osition of t-hoso islanLs in rc14ion to possihlosites of weapons tosti~- is such thn.tthe Russi?a tc6\f.~gjp:~am is aptto prchcc moro fellout th?m events iP tho Mmshdls or Neva&

S&ti.uat$.a,~the whole Body Do-

I doubt ti=t it will IN possible to zmko % satisf~.ctoryestimtc ofcithd the Beta or Gamma doso the fishorvmn rQCCiV& We kZIOWt~t thoash foil in such quantities th?,tthtiLeek of tho shiF bgc$me white, nndthcrc was sufficient natorisl to develop visihlo fGOtprints~ Unf”ortunatclY,this is tihoUnit of our informztiGn on how rmclhash fell and how low:it romaind OP tho ship. ‘lhofish~On w~.sho.”-tlm ?.ocksin orticrto rcmovctho ash and aocorw~ to their rq~orts their wshiq; =-s offectiv% ‘(~~the vcssol arrived in Ya

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puch of what rcnainc:.was rmovcL~oNfi,.l

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Measurmcnts mule by various investigators during thciperiodbetween March 20-26 are in ag-oement. It is curious that m Bet*Gems ratio is about 1. This would indicato that the bulk of tile ashhad ?);: this time penetrated to the pmous WOOL struoture of the deck,thus e’sor>ing the Betas. The Gama r%iation over most of the ship was~.~protiatOIY 40 n.r. per hour when tla ship arriv~ In port. If we extra-polate tkds baok to H # 3 il~s, the time the ash begea to fall, the intes-atd Gamm Lose is a30ut 100 R, Cf cou-se, the ash @as failing fron Hplus 3 h~s to *out H plus 9 hours. If we take the mid-point of thisperiod as the start of exposuro we find the t3~osure is about 70 R. This,however, ostin=tcs the whole %ody Gmma radi%tion from residud delxisstill on the sk-ivwhen the first nem.arcmcnts were msdob The actual Losocould have bmn 2, 10? or even 100 ti=es higher dopen?.$~:on how muchW%S w%she~ off tho ship wi’.a+ what time.

We have nado anumker of disoreet inquiries in tho h~pes thatphoto~ti~hic film might have teen availdblc atwm:. the ship ml mi~ht31y bc used as a Losincter. All efforts to data have been negative.

ash

possi-

Demsition of Internal Emitters .

There was an urgent requirencnt to ovalu%te tho sxten$ to whichfission products htibeen a3sor30d into the tissues of tho fish-en.As aentionct ca.rlier,Dr. X*ai&uni hat.conclutd fran his mouse expcrl-mcnt tkt th-eproegmsis for the fishernen was dvtirsely affected by thepr~-;~~ilityof ~~cessive ~.eposition of lon~-lived lone-seekir~ isoto2~s0

The J=zanosc scie~tists were dcs~er401y 100kin-: for = %Wt to ‘eo~ilizethese isotopes -;. >. Lewis ‘zclicvost!=t they !?P4=’minist=et.~T~ tothe 2%tica%s, Lespitc the fact tk~t urine armlysis wae beyone theirc?.pa~ilit:r cm: tr.ey wae therefore unable to detemine eitaer the neet forEMU or the effect yxlucc< by it. &art fron the fact that tlleyworounable to =ndortako urine an=lysis at that tine, it is also evident thatthey tit not uzilerstaadthe dynamics sf fission protuct met&bolism -d wereaot used to thinkin: in terns of ur32n=y excretion levels as an i.rdcxof absorption Pat deposition.

They were Pxxious to provide ne with samples of urine for State-side=kLysis. Two s.amplcswere dclivcre~ on March 26 ~L fivo nore on M%rch30. As yet we hwc not rcccivet s~ples fron the rcimini~ 16 patients,

* The smplcs received were propcrti f~rwar~ed to the Health w?. SFfetyL%to~Atory an?- I have had tho results of gross an’lysis of ~ne first twos=mples. I cozcmaicetod these results to Dr. Xolfi’ashiin tlhenttao!hctletter which is self-cxplmatory.

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6 April 1954

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[.< ,,. . .../ — L. %-Ilr,Rokuzo Ko3ayashiNation%l Institu$e of He&lth‘#f31fereMinistryTOLqO .

i)c?hrDr. Kobaywh.i:

OriMarch 26 we received two smplcs of urine from yatients atthe ~O@ ~1’liV=6ity ~OS~it& I an h~ppy to be able to report at thistir;cthat the r%;ioactivity of theso SW221OB is so lLW th~t the &epoBitsGf fission y oLuots in the tissues of the two patiezts can be aocoptodes well witiin the lizdts of sd~tvo Thm results follow:

- 720 disinte=~ations~ox minute ~or liter510 n w II n II

~~ta on t;le i2:.1~~~ r~-~o.isotopes WiU he tcle5~a~he& to no

irimother few Lays, It will then be possille for De to be moxe qumti-tativo in ostime.tin:~the Loso from absm%ed fimdon products. ~owv~r?it is cost certain that tie stork-e of lcmg-livot radio-isotopes is in-si.”.nific?r.t in thosa mone

As you how, t!!crato of excretion of fission proiluctsat m~ivcn tine ?ftor a~sorytio~ hoers a relationsMp to the quantities deposited ia the wmious tissues. The princip~ radiochomical constituentsat tk.istine .=roGue to Sr89$ La140 and the R=eE=tias~ “‘~~sO ~~iscto~es which-have relatively short hnf-liVes ~d *O ~l~inat~d fr~the hoty with conparativc rayidity either 3Y radloaotivo dec~ w ex-CrQtiQn. In the caso of those patiimts, Sr90 is most certainly sm in-sign.ificmt fr%ction of the totpl ~bsarbOd rtiowttvity. The permissible

uria=y excretion, csnsiderim.:the isoto~es involved, would 30 ~geater,by a lzrge factor, thin We values roportet -bovoo

I note th?.tthe neww~apors continuo to C=-ry occasion~ state-ments of the J~.p~aso inv~stigators to tho effect th%t the prognosis forthe fishormn is tiverscly affoctd by the f?ictthat long-life bone-sc3ckingisoto~cs ere deposited in their tissucs~ It is rogrettibls th=.t

the public cGntinucs to be uisinformod in this rc=pect. Certainly theremd.ts reported ahovo tiguc convinci!@y tlmt only Kinimal.,metic.~lyinsignificant vounts of fission proiiuctshave been ~bosorbcd into thetissues of the two patients for when re~t~~~_tl@#OENERGY CLASSIFIED

INFORMATION (NO I?D/FRD/DoE-NSI)COORDINATE WITH :~~~ ~f St&BEFORE DECLASSIFICATION RELEASE

,,,,d,:L,.,,,:.:F,:::,9’:E2AUTHORITY DOE/SA-20...rr”.-r-

~.:’.’ BY D.P , C~N&~@~~

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6 April 1.954Dr. R. Kob~aslli -2

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1 rob=ot that I sn unable t~ give you tic results of analysesof urino fron tho ~ other pm.ticntso Wowin: that those Late would b e

hi~hly 1.zr20rtantto your coanittoc in its ev~luaticns of the r@icaJstatus of those patients, WG hn,vooffcrct.to uni’.ortakcrr.diochcnical

urine awilysis Of e.. 23 gMionts- Thc urine frm only two patients

has been Lclivcrcd to us in tim’ to pemit shipmnt to the Stntcs andm~~ysis by’this dates More roccntly, sanplcs fron five a?.?.itionalp~.ticntsfrom tkm Tokyo UnivmO.itY Hospital were Cdivercd to us, but wchave not as yot roccivct mqlos fron the 16 patients now ho@talizcdat tk DPAiohi EosZit=&

aos?cctfully yours,

Morril yiSCIAhi!

IMroctor, Hcalt.han~ Safety W.bore+toryUnitd States Atomic Sncra- Commission

1S3/Prm/hcc

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