In the middle of the Pacific Ocean lies the world’s most nuclear-contaminated island, devastated by the days of the Hiroshima and Nagisaki nuclear attacks. The small coral islands of Bikini Atoll have remained uninhabited since 1945, when atomic bombs were dropped on Japan and the United States began using them for nuclear testing. The tiny population of 167 people was advised to move elsewhere by the army and said the tests were necessary to avoid any future wars. No one has lived there since. The islands met the military’s criteria because they were under US control — as detailed in a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council — and within 1,000 miles of a base from which the bombers could take off. The lagoon that enclosed the atoll provided a sheltered harbor for Navy ships, including vessels used as targets. But the inhabitants who moved from the island at that time were angry, yet their leader, King Judah then said: “We will go, believing that everything is in God’s hands.” Although he promised that the residents could eventually return one day, they were instead permanently relocated to other islands in the Marshalls. The beautiful islands as seen today (Image: Getty Images) Nuclear explosions on the islands became the norm (Image: Getty Images) Scientists examined the tuna for radioactive residues (Image: Getty Images / Hulton Archive) Between 1946 and 1958, the US detonated 23 nuclear devices on the islands, including 20 hydrogen bombs. The H-Castle Bravo bomb test was conducted on the islands on 1 March 1954 and reached a yield of 15 megatons – 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb that destroyed Nagisaki in 1945. The bomb blast in the air is estimated to be equivalent to 216 Empire State Buildings, according to Stanford Magazine. While some residents were allowed to return in the late 1960s, this was halted because the cesium-137 in the returnees’ bodies was later found to have increased by 75%. Residents were evacuated due to the bombs (Image: Getty Images) The bombs have left behind radioactive trails to this day (Image: Getty Images / Stocktrek Images) Many residents were evacuated before the tests began (Image: Getty Images) Residents were then moved 450 miles away to the Kili Islands, and scientists say it is still not safe to return to Bikini Atoll to this day. “Probably the most powerful finding from our research is that Bikini Island needs to be cleaned up before people can live there again,” says Ivana Nikolic Hughes, a senior lecturer in chemistry at Columbia University and Director of the K-1 Center for Nuclear Programs. Studies. “This is based on levels of cesium-137 in food, background gamma radiation and the presence of various isotopes in soil and ocean sediments.” Since 2010, Bikini Atoll has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a reminder of the terrible power of nuclear weapons and their influence on modern civilization. Contact our news team by emailing us at [email protected] For more stories like this, check out our news page.
