The Pacific Proving Grounds & It's Toxic Legacy
“The lessons of nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands are lessons for the whole world, as there are other areas, communities and countries that were and continue to be affected by nuclear testing,” - Ms. Al-Nashif
NUCLEAR LEGACY IN THE REPUBLIC THE MARSHALL ISLANDS
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Ground Zero. Between 1948 and 1958, 43 atomic blasts rocked the tiny atoll — part of the Marshall Islands, which sit between Hawaii and the Philippines, obliterating the native groves of breadfruit trees and coconut palms, and leaving an apocalyptic wreckage of twisted test towers, radioactive bunkers and rusting military equipment. Four islands were entirely vaporized; only deep blue radioactive craters in the ocean remained. The residents had been evacuated. No one thought they would ever return.
In the early 1970s, the Enewetak islanders threatened legal action if they didn’t get their home back. In 1972, the United States government agreed to return the atoll and vowed to clean it up first, a project shared by the Atomic Energy Commission, now called the Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense. The Marshall Islands becomes part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in 1947, created by the UN and administered by the US. In 1948 the Islanders are forced to evacuate Enewetak Atoll as US expands nuclear weapons testing program in the area. The isolated Marshall Islands were the site of the most devastating nuclear tests the US ever conducted. |
The Dome. The Crews. The Cover Up.
ENEWETAK ATOLL ATOMIC CLEANUP VETERANS
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Their toxic lagacy lives on in their children, grandchildren and future generations. The 4,000 Enewetak Atoll Cleanup Veterans, many of whom faced a long list of cancers and other deadly illnesses, are mostly gone today. Groups that track them estimate there are only about 400 left today. Dispatched in the late 1970s to clean up the fallout from U.S. atomic bomb tests conducted in the Marshall Islands several decades earlier. In a 10-year period that ended in 1958, 43 tests were conducted at Enewetak Atoll, the ring-shaped collection of 40 coral reef islands. For the next 20 years, the contamination sat atop the atoll, 850 miles west of Hawaii.
“The Marshall Islands were also used as a testing ground for conventional and biological weapons following a temporary moratorium on nuclear testing in 1958″ according to information received by the LA Times in 2014.
There has never been a formal study of the health of the Enewetak cleanup crews. Tying any disease to radiation exposure years earlier is nearly impossible; there has never been a formal study of the health of the Enewetak cleanup crews. The military collected nasal swabs and urine samples during the cleanup to measure how much plutonium troops were absorbing, but in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, it said it could not find the records.
“The Marshall Islands were also used as a testing ground for conventional and biological weapons following a temporary moratorium on nuclear testing in 1958″ according to information received by the LA Times in 2014.
There has never been a formal study of the health of the Enewetak cleanup crews. Tying any disease to radiation exposure years earlier is nearly impossible; there has never been a formal study of the health of the Enewetak cleanup crews. The military collected nasal swabs and urine samples during the cleanup to measure how much plutonium troops were absorbing, but in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, it said it could not find the records.
United Nations Report: 04 October 2024
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Those relocated from the islands were then subjected to a medical testing programs lasting more than 40 years, which included the removal of healthy teeth, bone marrow and other body parts, “to be stored in a laboratory for research purposes, recalls Ariana Tibon-Kilma. Through workshops and consultations, it was found that radiation exposure from the nuclear tests caused the “proliferation of cancers, of painful memories of miscarriages, stillbirths, and of what some Marshallese refer to as 'jellyfish babies' – infants born with translucent skin and no bones.
“As I watched my loved ones endure relentless pain, I grappled with a profound sense of helplessness, the weight of their suffering entwined with my own,” Ms. Tibon-Kilm said, adding “Let us remember that the dignity of every individual, especially those in their most vulnerable moments, must be fiercely protected and upheld.” - UN News 10.2024 |
UN Reprot 4 Oct 2024
Watch Nada Al-Nashif, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, address the Human Rights Council at its 57th session during an enhanced interactive dialogue on the nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands. |
Pacific Islands
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COFA Compact of Free Association States + CANN
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Atomic Veterans: Enewetak Atoll Atomic Cleanup VeteransThe cleanup of Enewetak Atoll began in 1977 and ended in 1980. The original estimate for the cleanup was $40 million, but Congress only allocated $20 million and stipulated that “all reasonable economies should be realized in the accomplishment of this project through the use of military services’ construction and support forces, their subsistence, equipment, material, supplies, and transportation.”
As a result, approximately 6,000 servicemen from the Navy, Army, and Air Force participated n what would become “the first comprehensive project to clean up and rehabilitate a former nuclear‐test site.” The Navy was responsible for operating ships and creating waterways to less accessible islands; the Air Force was tasked with communication, air supply operations, and health facility operations; and the Army Corps of Engineers handled the actual cleanup of the islands.
As a result, approximately 6,000 servicemen from the Navy, Army, and Air Force participated n what would become “the first comprehensive project to clean up and rehabilitate a former nuclear‐test site.” The Navy was responsible for operating ships and creating waterways to less accessible islands; the Air Force was tasked with communication, air supply operations, and health facility operations; and the Army Corps of Engineers handled the actual cleanup of the islands.
Republic of the Marshall Islands Text
Republic of the Marshall Islands Text
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Pacific Islanders Text
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