August 2023 - Seascape: the state of our oceans

Endless fallout: the Pacific idyll still facing nuclear blight 77 years on

The film Oppenheimer has shone a global spotlight on the dawn of US nuclear weapons tests. In the #MarshallIslands, where 23 of those earth-shattering blasts happened, people have never been able to forget

by Lucy Sherriff
Fri 25 Aug 2023 03.00 EDT

"At first glance, the aquamarine waters that surround the Marshall Islands seem like paradise. But this idyllic #Pacific scene hides a dark secret: it was the location of 67 #nuclear detonations as part of US military tests during the #ColdWar between 1946 and 1958.

"The bombs were exploded above ground and underwater on Bikini and Enewetak Atolls, including one device 1,100 times larger than the Hiroshima atom bomb. Chernobyl-like levels of radiation forced hundreds from their homes. #BikiniAtoll remains deserted. At the US government’s urging, residents have begun returning slowly to #Enewetak.

"Today, there is little visible evidence of the tests on the islands except for a 115-metre (377ft)-wide cement dome that locals nickname the Tomb – for good reason.

"Built in the late 1970s and now aged and cracking, the huge concrete lid on #RunitIsland covers more than 90,000 cubic metres (3.1m cubic ft) – or roughly 35 Olympic-sized swimming pools – of radioactive soil and nuclear waste. Unbeknown to the #Marshallese people, the US shipped the waste from #Nevada, where it was testing nuclear weapons on #NativeAmerican land.

"The legacy of America’s nuclear testing on #IndigenousCommunities both on the US mainland and its territories has come under renewed scrutiny with the release of Oppenheimer, the blockbuster film about the physicist who led development of the atomic bomb.

"Although his team tested the nuclear weapons on Native American land – there were 928 large-scale nuclear weapons tests in #Nevada, #Utah and #Arizona during the cold war, dispersing huge clouds of radioactive material – the film never mentions the impact of the testing on the local Native Americans.

"'The film completely ignores the experiences of our people,' says #IanZabarte, principal man of the Western Bands of the #ShoshoneNation – who have been described as 'the most bombed nation on earth'.

"Zabarte is attempting to forge connections with those Pacific Islanders who were similarly affected by #NuclearTesting. Earlier this year, he met representatives from the Marshall Islands when they visited Nevada to discuss the effects on their health from nuclear weapons testing.

“'The health impacts on our people have never been investigated,' Zabarte says. 'We have never received an apology, let alone any kind of compensation.'

"Separately, a band of Marshallese activists are now sailing around the country’s 29 atolls, along with #Artists and #ClimateScientists, on a 12-day tour that aims to raise awareness of nuclear testing on the archipelago.

"The 520-mile ocean voyage is being operated by Cape Farewell, a cultural programme founded by the British artist David Buckland and funded by the Waverley Street Foundation, Laurene Powell Jobs’s climate charity.

"'Cancers continue from generation to generation,' says Alson Kelen, a master navigator and community elder who grew up on Bikini Atoll and is joining the expedition.

"'If you ask anyone here if there’s a legacy of nuclear impact on their health, the answer would be yes. The Marshall Islands Nuclear Claim Tribunal has a list of #cancers that are related to nuclear throughout our people. These cancers are hereditary.'

"The US maintains that the Marshall Islands are safe. It seized them from #Japan in 1944, and eventually granted the islands independence in 1979, but the fledgling nation remained in 'free association' with the US. Under this system, along with #Micronesia and #Palau, the Marshall Islands are self-governing but economically remain largely dependent on Washington, which also retains a military presence. Today it continues to use the US dollar, and American aid still represents a large percentage of its GDP.

"In 1988, an independent international tribunal was established to adjudicate between the two countries, and it later ordered the US to pay $2.3bn (£1.8bn) to the Marshall Islands in healthcare and resettlement costs.

"The US government has refused, arguing that its liabilities ended when it paid $600m in the 1990s. In 1998, the US stopped providing medical care for cancer-stricken islanders, leaving many in financial hardship."

Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/25/endless-fallout-marshall-islands-pacific-idyll-still-facing-nuclear-blight-77-years-on?ref=mc.news