The year 1945 was a huge stepping stone in the nuclear arms race – a competition between the United States of America (USA) and the Soviet Union (USSR) for supremacy in nuclear warfare. It was also the year when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, during World War II. These events ultimately lead the world into the Atomic Era. Even though dropping the atomic bomb put an end to WWII, it was the beginning of the Cold War between two super powers: USA, USSR, and their respective allies.
During the Cold War, the U.S. continued to practice nuclear testing in order to construct even bigger and better bombs. United States had many secluded nuclear testing sites; one of them being Bikini Atoll. …show more content…
Bikini Atoll, consists of 23 islands and belongs to the Republic of the Marshall Islands, located just north of the equator in the Pacific Ocean. The Marshall Islands are composed of 29 atolls, Bikini and Eniwetok being the two main ones, and five large, isolated islands.
Weather in the Marshall Islands is very tropical: hot, humid, with average of 80°F. Rainy season lasts from June to December and dry season from January to May. It also tends to get windier during the dry season. The general landscape is sandy as most of the islands sit on average only 7 feet above sea level – the highest point being an unnamed hill on Likiep which peaks at only 32 ft. (10m). For almost 40 years the islands were under US administration as the eastern most part of the United Nation's Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
Bikini Atoll, with a total land area of 3.4 square miles, remained largely unexplored due to its location in the dry, northern area of the Marshall Islands. After WWII ended, the U.S. Navy chose Bikini Island as a location to perform nuclear testing. In July 1946, Operation Crossroads was launched by the U.S. Military, which allowed for the U.S. to begin testing nuclear bombs in this area. Prior to testing, the U.S. Government asked Bikinians (natives of Bikini Island) to move from Bikini Atoll to Rongerik Atoll – 125 miles east of their home …show more content…
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has been studying the radiological aftermath of bikini since 1970 to present day. A few more studies have been done there and result was submitted to International Atomic Energy Agency for review in 1995. Scientist advised during 1968 that radiation level is very low on the island and it is safe to move back and live the life, and bikinians moved back to the island in 1970. The natives have told by the scientist that it is safe to drink water, air is safe and surface to atolls are safe but after living there for 5 years people started to getting sick. Atomic Energy commission learned that radiation risk was mainly from the food sources such as locally grown fruits, vegetables and coconut crabs which retained high level of radioactivity. The studies revealed the lingering contamination because the radioactive cesium was present in the soil of the plants and it was unhealthy to eaten by any human. At that time residents were given different advised to eat different kind of food that is not contaminated by radiation. When tests were done on bikinian, it showed very high level of radiation in their