Marshall Island Nuclear Effects

The Marshall Islands are a group of islands located near the equator in the Pacific Ocean. It is made up of twenty nine atolls (ring-shaped coral reefs) and five islands. The United States chose these islands, specifically the Bikini Atoll, to conduct tests of their nuclear weapons near the beginning of the Cold War in the midst of World War II. The United States detonated a total of sixty seven nuclear weapons on these islands between the years of 1946 and 1958. The overall strength of the tests was significant, over seven thousand times more forceful than the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.1 The damage and effects of these nuclear weapons was extensive and can still be seen today.

Of the sixty-seven tests that

The people of the island were forced to evacuate their homes and were told they could return home after the nuclear testing was complete. Little did they know; the levels of radiation would still be too high for the land to be inhabited for years to come. Once they returned home, they were forced to evacuate once again. Shortly after “Bravo” was detonated, 51 people were affected by the blast, some being over 100 miles away from the explosion. They had to be evacuated and treated for symptoms of acute radiation sickness including nausea, vomiting, skin burns, and hair loss.4 “After the “Bravo” test the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) began Project 4.1, “the study of the response of human beings exposed to significant beta and gamma radiation due to fallout from high-yield weapons.”2 Citizens of the Marshall Islands were divided into “exposed” and “control” groups to observe the short- and longterm effects of exposure to radiation from fallout and the contaminated environment where they lived. This 1954 study was stamped “secret restrictive data” due to the anticipated negative public reaction to its findings and was only declassified in 1994.”4 The United States did not want to disclose information about the nuclear tests they performed or the damage it had caused because they did not want to deal with the negative backlash they would receive. “As noted in reference to the “Bravo” blast, the inhabitants of Rongelap were seriously exposed to radiation over an extended period of time. On average, they received a radiation dose of about 190 rems (radiation units). This dose was, according to current medical opinion, sufficient to cause an extra 1 in 7 risk of dying of cancer. Medical examinations carried out on adults in Rongelap between 1970 and 1974, which compared