Dial was born in 1971 on Bikini, which had seen 23 nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958. He had lived there until his family and a group of about 100 Bikinians were evacuated by the United States in 1978 after being exposed to radiation exceeding maximum safety levels.

The Bikinians had returned home after US scientists in the late 1960s had pronounced Bikini safe for rehabilitation.But the resettlement was aborted in 1978 and subsequently, the US appropriated 110 million dollars for a resettlement trust fund to assist the Bikinians to conduct a nuclear cleanup and rehabilitation program.

In a 10-page ruling issuedthis week, tribunal judges Oscar de Brum, James Plasman and Gregory Danz agreed that Dial's lymphoma ``was sufficiently connected to the nuclear testing program to warrant an award of full compensation (100,000 dollars) for that condition.''

It marks the first time in more than 180 so-called ``underage'' claims that the tribunal has awarded full compensation.Because of a shortage of compensation funding from the US, however, the tribunal has to date paid a maximum of 61 percent of awards, and continues to pay a percentage of the awards on an annual basis each October.

The tribunal said evidence presented on behalf of Dial showed his estimated dose from the testing program exceeded his cumulative background; his lymphoma was an illness recognised by the tribunal as a condition caused by radiation exposure; his age and the aggressive nature of his cancer were suggestive of a connection between the condition and radiation; and there was no proof shown of other possible causes of his illness.The tribunalrelied in part on a US federal court ruling involving radiation exposure.