Nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll

The major preparation was to relocate the residents after discussion with them. At the time it was thought it would be a temporary relocation. As time showed, the nuclear weapons contaminated the area in a way that made them dangerous to live in for an extended period. Residents relocated In February 1946, the United States government forced the 167 Micronesian inhabitants of the atoll to temporarily relocate so that testing could begin on atomic bombs. Navy Seabees helped them to disassemble their church and community house and prepare to relocate to their new home. On March 7, 1946, (now known as Bikini Day) the residents gathered their belongings and building supplies. They were transported eastward on Navy landing craft 1108 and LST 861 to the uninhabited Rongerik Atoll, The United States assembled a support fleet of 242 ships that provided quarters, experimental stations, and workshops for more than 42,000 personnel. The islands were primarily used as recreation and instrumentation sites. Seabees built bunkers, floating dry docks, and other facilities on the island to support the servicemen. These included the "Up and Atom Officer's Club" and the "Cross Spikes Club", a bar and hang-out created by servicemen on Bikini Island between June and September 1946. The "club" was little more than a small open-air building which served alcohol to servicemen and provided outdoor entertainment, including a ping pong table. The "Cross Spikes Club" was the only entertainment that the enlisted servicemen had access to during their June to September stay at Bikini. Ship graveyard The Navy designated Bikini Atoll lagoon as a ship graveyard, then brought in 95 ships, including carriers, battleships, cruisers, destroyers, submarines, attack transports, and landing ships. The proxy fleet would have comprised the sixth largest naval fleet in the world if the ships had been active. All carried varying amounts of fuel, and some carried live ordnance. == Weapons tests ==

' 53rd Naval Construction Battalion build camera towers prior to atomic bomb testing on Bikini Atoll, July 1946. Operation Crossroads from test Baker, situated just offshore from Bikini Island at top of the picture. Crossroads consisted of two detonations, each with a yield of 23 kt of TNT (96 TJ). Able was detonated over Bikini on July 1, 1946 and exploded at an altitude of , but was dropped by aircraft about off target. The next series of tests over Bikini Atoll was codenamed Operation Castle. The first test of that series was Castle Bravo, a new design utilizing a dry fuel thermonuclear bomb. It was detonated at dawn on March 1, 1954. The explosion yielded 15 Mt of TNT, far exceeding the expected yield of 4 to 8 Mt of TNT (6 predicted), Castle Bravo contamination The unexpectedly large yield led to the most significant radiological contamination caused by the United States. A few minutes after the detonation, blast debris began to fall on Eneu/Enyu Island on Bikini Atoll where the crew who fired the device were located. Their Geiger counters detected the unexpected fallout, and they were forced to take shelter indoors for a number of hours before it was safe for an airlift rescue operation. The fallout continued to spread across the inhabited islands of the Rongelap, Rongerik, and Utrik Atolls. The inhabitants of Rongelap and Rongerik Atolls were evacuated by servicemen two days after the detonation, but the residents of the more distant Utrik Atoll were not evacuated for three days. Many of them soon began to show symptoms of acute radiation syndrome. They returned to the islands three years later but were forced to relocate again when the islands were found to be unsafe. File:USS Independence (CVL-22) afire after the Able atomic bomb test on 1 July 1946 (80-G-627502).jpg|The light aircraft carrier afire aft, soon after the "Able Day" atomic bomb air burst test at Bikini on July 1, 1946 File:Damage to the port quarter of USS Independence (CVL-22) after the Able atmic bomb test, 23 July 1946 (80-G-627471).jpg|View of the USS Independence's port quarter showing severe blast damage caused by the "Able Day" atomic bomb air burst over Bikini Atoll on July 1, 1946 File:USS Saratoga (CV-3) sinking in Bikini Atoll lagoon on 25 July 1946 (SC 259372).jpg| sinking after Operation Crossroads The fallout gradually dispersed around the globe, depositing traces of radioactive material in Australia, India, Japan, and parts of the United States of America and Europe. It had been organized as a secret test, but Castle Bravo quickly became an international incident prompting calls for a ban on atmospheric testing of thermonuclear weapons. They were forced to abandon the islands three days after the tests, leaving behind all their belongings. The U.S. government relocated them to Kwajalein for medical treatment. Six days after the Castle Bravo test, the government set up a secret project to study the medical effects of the weapon on the residents of the Marshall Islands. The United States was subsequently accused of using the inhabitants as medical research subjects without obtaining their consent to study the effects of nuclear exposure. Until that time, the Atomic Energy Commission had given little thought to the potential impact of widespread fallout contamination and health and ecological impacts beyond the formally designated boundary of the test site. Japanese fishermen contaminated showing radiation burns caused by fallout that collected in his hair; dated April 7, 1954, 38 days after the nuclear test Ninety minutes after the detonation, 23 crew members of the Japanese fishing boat the Daigo Fukuryū Maru ("Lucky Dragon No. 5") were contaminated by the snow-like irradiated debris and ash. They had no idea what the explosion was and no understanding of the debris that rained down like snow, but they all soon became ill with the effects of acute radiation sickness. One fisherman died about six months later while under medical supervision; his cause of death was ruled a pre-existing liver cirrhosis compounded by a hepatitis C infection. The majority of medical experts believe that the crew members were infected with hepatitis C through blood transfusions during part of their acute radiation syndrome treatment. Edward Teller was one of the driving minds behind the development of the hydrogen bomb and an architect of the Marshall Island tests. After the mass media painted the fisherman's death as an anti-nuclear call to arms, Teller notoriously commented, "It's unreasonable to make such a big deal over the death of a fisherman." Later tests The 17-shot Redwing series followed—11 tests at Enewetak Atoll and six at Bikini. The island residents had been promised that they would be able to return home to Bikini, but the government thwarted that indefinitely by deciding to resume nuclear testing at Bikini in 1954. During 1954, 1956, and 1958, 21 more nuclear bombs were detonated at Bikini, yielding a total of 75 Mt of TNT (310 PJ), equivalent to more than three thousand Baker bombs. The 3.8 Mt of TNT Redwing Cherokee test was the only air burst. Air bursts distribute fallout in a large area, but surface bursts produce intense local fallout.{{cite book| last = Hansen| first = Chuck| author-link = Chuck Hansen| series = Swords of Armageddon: US Nuclear Weapons Development since 1945 Shipwrecks Shipwrecks in the lagoon include: • —aircraft carrier • —battleship • —attack transport • —attack transport • —destroyer • —destroyer • —submarine • —submarine • —battleship • —light cruiser • —heavy cruiser—currently capsized on the surface of Kwajalein Atoll lagoon == Nuclear test detonations at Bikini Atoll ==

The following above-ground nuclear device tests were conducted on or near Bikini Atoll from 1946 to 1958, comprising 15.1% of total test yield worldwide. These dates are given in US Eastern time zone. The days of the week are a day earlier than they were at Bikini. == Relocation issues ==

Strategic Trust Territory In 1947, the United States petitioned the United Nations Security Council to designate the islands of Micronesia a United Nations Strategic Trust Territory. This was the only strategic trust ever granted by the Security Council. The directive stipulated that the U.S. would "promote the economic advancement and self-sufficiency of the inhabitants" and "protect the inhabitants against the loss of their lands and resources". The U.S.-administered Strategic Trust Territory decided that the islanders had to be evacuated from the atoll a second time. BNL then contracted Dr. Konrad Kotrady to treat the Marshall Island residents. In 1977, he wrote a 14-page report to BNL that questioned the accuracy of Brookhaven's prior work on the islands. The leaders of the Bikini community have insisted since the early 1980s that the top of soil should be excavated from the entire island. Scientists reply that removing the soil would rid the island of cesium-137, but it would also severely damage the environment, turning the atoll into a virtual wasteland of windswept sand. The Bikini Council has repeatedly contended that removing the topsoil is the only way to guarantee safe living conditions for future generations. In 1997, researchers found that the dose received from background radiation on the island was between 2.4 mSv/yr—the same as natural background radiation—and 4.5 mSv/yr, assuming that residents consumed a diet of imported foods. The local food supply is still irradiated and the group did not recommend resettling the island. A 1998 IAEA report found that Bikini should not be permanently resettled because of dangerous levels of radiation in the locally produced food. A permanent rehabitation would likely require the use of potassium fertilizer. A 2002 survey found that the coral inside the Bravo Crater has partially recovered. Zoe Richards of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University observed matrices of branching Porites coral up to 8 m high. Compensation and reparations The Bikini islanders sued the United States for the first time in 1975, and they demanded a radiological study of the northern islands. The United States set up The Hawaiian Trust Fund for the People of Bikini in 1975, totaling $3 million. Residents were removed from the island in 1978, and the government added $3 million to the fund and created The Resettlement Trust Fund for the People of Bikini, containing $20 million in 1982. The government added another $90 million to that fund to pay to clean up, reconstruct homes and facilities, and resettle the islanders on Bikini and Eneu islands. In 1983, the U.S. and the Marshall islanders signed the Compact of Free Association which gave the Marshall Islands independence. The Compact became effective in 1986 and was subsequently modified by the Amended Compact that became effective in 2004. It also established the Nuclear Claims Tribunal, which was given the task of adjudicating compensation for victims and families affected by the nuclear testing program. Section 177 of the compact provided for reparations to the Bikini islanders and other northern atolls for damages. It included $75 million to be paid over 15 years. On March 5, 2001, the Nuclear Claims Tribunal ruled against the United States for damages done to the islands and its people. The payments began in 1987 with $2.4 million paid annually to the entire Bikini population, while the remaining $2.6 million is paid into The Bikini Claims Trust Fund. This trust is intended to exist in perpetuity and to provide the islanders a 5% payment from the trust annually. The United States provided $150 million in compensation for damage caused by the nuclear testing program and their displacement from their home island. By 2001, 70 of the 167 relocated residents were still alive, and the entire population had grown to 2,800. Most of the islanders and their descendants live on Kili, in Majuro, or in the United States. Only a few living people were born on the Bikini Atoll. Most of the younger descendants have never lived there or even visited. The population is growing at a four percent growth rate, so increasing numbers are taking advantage of terms in the Marshall Islands' Compact of Free Association that allow them to obtain jobs in the United States. == Recovery of marine ecosystem ==

Stanford University professor Steve Palumbi led a study in 2017 that reported on ocean life that seems highly resilient to the effects of radiation poisoning. The team described substantial diversity in the marine ecosystem, with animals appearing healthy to the naked eye. According to Palumbi, the atoll's "lagoon is full of schools of fish all swirling around the living coral. In a strange way they are protected by the history of this place, the fish populations are better than in some other places because they have been left alone, the sharks are more abundant and the coral are big. It is a remarkable environment, quite odd." PBS documented field work undertaken by Palumbi and his graduate student Elora López on Bikini Atoll for the second episode ("Violent") of their series Big Pacific. The episode explored "species, natural phenomena and behaviors of the Pacific Ocean" and the way that the team is using DNA sequencing to study the rate and pattern of any mutations. where scientists are studying the effects of radiation on animal life. Most fish have relatively short lifespans, and Palumbi suggested that "it is possible the worst-affected fish died off many decades ago… and the fish living in Bikini Atoll today are only subject to low levels of radiation exposure as they frequently swim in and out of the atoll." and on the corals, because both have longer life spans that allow the scientists "to delve into what effect the radiation exposure has had on the animals' DNA after building up in their systems for many years." Gamma radiation levels in 2016 averaged 184 mrem yr−1 (1.84 mSv/yr), well above the maximum allowed for human habitation, == Health impacts ==

The Castle Bravo test produced the highest fallout levels in history. The fallout was the source of most people's radiation exposure, which has been linked to increases in leukemia and thyroid cancer. The female population of the Marshall Islands have a sixty times greater cervical cancer mortality than a comparable mainland United States population. The Islands populations also have a five times greater likelihood of breast or gastrointestinal mortality, and lung cancer mortality is three times higher than the mainland population. Food shipped into the islands could also be irradiated by contaminated cooking utensils. Iodine-131, a highly radioactive isotope, can be ingested or inhaled and is concentrated in a person's thyroid. == See also ==