" nuclear weapons test in 1958.
Construction The
Runit Dome, also called
Cactus Dome or locally "the Tomb", is a diameter, thick dome of concrete at
sea level, encapsulating an estimated of radioactive debris, including some
plutonium-239. The debris stems from
nuclear tests conducted in the Enewetak Atoll by the United States between 1946 and 1958. From 1977 to 1980, loose waste and topsoil from six different islands in the Enewetak Atoll was transported to the site and mixed with concrete to seal the nuclear blast crater created by the
Cactus test. Four thousand US servicemen were involved in the cleanup from this test, and it took three years to complete. The waste-filled crater was finally
entombed in concrete.
Disclosure and accounting U.S. government test records state that during
Operation Hardtack I in 1958, over 118 metric tonnes of soil were imported from the
Nevada Test Site to Enewetak and placed "in a conical plug beneath the intended burst point" as part of preparations for the
Fig nuclear test. Investigative reporting has stated that this transfer was not disclosed to Marshallese representatives during negotiations leading to the 1986
Compact of Free Association. According to the
United States Department of Energy, the Runit containment structure holds approximately of radioactively contaminated soil and debris collected during cleanup operations of Enewetak Atoll. The department has not published a complete, independently verified inventory detailing all materials transported to, rehandled at, or ultimately disposed of at the site.
Erosion In 1982, a US government task force raised concern about a probable breach if a severe
typhoon were to hit the island. In 2013, a report by the
US Department of Energy found that the concrete dome had weathered with minor cracking of the structure. However, the soil around the dome was found to be more contaminated than its contents, so a breach could not increase the radiation levels by any means. Because the cleaning operation in the 1970s only removed an estimated 0.8 percent of the total
transuranic waste in the Enewetak atoll, An investigative report by the
Los Angeles Times in November 2019 reignited fears of the dome cracking and releasing radioactive material into the soil and surrounding water. The DOE was directed by Congress to assess the condition of the structure and develop a repair plan during the first half of 2020. The report was published in June 2020. In June 2020, the US Department of Energy released a report stating that the dome is in no immediate danger of collapse or breach and that the radioactive material within is not expected to have any measurable adverse effect on the surrounding environment for the next twenty years. ==Illness of army personnel==