NUCLEAR FALLOUT: July 1, 1946 - Then and 59 years later.
Articles / NuclearFallout
Posted by YokweOnline on Jul 02, 2005 - 03:05 PM
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Marshall Islands' 59 Years later: The Nuclear Legacy Revisited
Marshallese had a holiday July 1. For many, the national Fisherman's Day commemoration meant a day-off for picnics, parties, or participation in the Marshalls' Billfish Club's 23rd Annual Fisherman's Day Tournament, but to some, a more solemn remembrance echoed down through the decades of Marshall Islands history. This July 1 was the 59th anniversary of the first test in the Marshalls, codenamed Able -- a Fat Man device dropped from high altitude over Bikini Atoll [1]. There were 67 atomic and hydrogen bomb tests (23 at Bikini Atoll) conducted by the United States in the Marshall Islands over a 12-year period. Islanders faced hardship, starvation, fallout-exposure, disease, and displacement, which still exists today. A tremendous price was paid for "the good of mankind" and US Cold War security, unknown to most Americans celebrating their Fourth of July holiday, this weekend. Recent Related News Follows...
U.S. made Japan drop Lucky Dragon probe [2] says Hiroko Takahashi, an expert on U.S. history at Hiroshima City University's Hiroshima Peace Institute who reported the document in the U.S. National Archives shows that the United States exerted pressure on the Japanese health ministry to drop research into the radioactive contamination of tuna following a 1954 U.S. hydrogen bomb test that irradiated a Japanese trawler in the South Pacific. Takahashi is to publish the document in a book titled "Kakusareta Hibakusha" (Hidden Radioactivity Victims).
Journalist David Robie is launching a new edition of his book Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior [3]. "I owe it to the people of Rongelap to tell their story again, at a time when there is probably going to be a lot of concentration on the spy drama and this book particularly concentrates on the plight of islanders who have been affected by radiation over the years. So it also looks at the effects of radiation on French Polynesia as well." Dr Robie says it was a traumatic experience witnessing the moving of islanders from their homeland to Mejato island on Kwajalein atoll."
Greenpeace is also doing special coverage of the 20th Anniversary of the sinking of the Rainbow warrior, including the story of the evacuation of Rongelap [4] in May of 1985.Operation Exodus' was a major departure for Greenpeace, this was not a traditional Greenpeace Style protest. The ten day evacuation required 4 trips between the islands and in all, 300 Islanders and over 100 tons of building materials were relocated. When it was time to leave, most of the crew were devastated. Their experience at Rongelap brought home to them the consequences of nuclear testing on these isolated South Pacific communities and stirred up powerful emotions.
Looking at Rongelap today, Hannah Cleaver on the Marshall Islands reports that Exiled Islanders [5] are preparing to return to their "radioactive paradise." US scientists say Rongelap is safe if people eat imported as well as local food. But this is little consolation to those understandably sceptical of men in white coats. Ericsson Arelong, 25, operates the body counter. "I tell them that the island is really safe," he said. "But my friends and family don't trust me because I work for the Department of Energy. "They want to come back but they don't want to hear that there is even a little bit of radiation on the island."
The United States continues its payments to downwinders and those workers exposed at nuke facilities, which does not include Marshall Islanders. Rep. Madeleine Bordallo [D-GU] introduced a bill, H.R.2910 [6], in June to " To amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include the Territory of Guam in the list of affected areas with respect to which claims relating to atmospheric nuclear testing shall be allowed, and for other purposes," which has been Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. Rep. Bordallo has been campaigning for Guam constituents [7] compensation for downwind and radiation exposure from the Cold War nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands.
More cold war workers in Marshall Islands tests during may get compensation. A Federal Notice [8] was released last month by US DHHS informing an evaluation to designate a class of employees at the Pacific Proving Grounds, for inclusion in Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. It would apply to all scientists and scientific couriers assigned to Enewetak Atoll from July 1, 1958,until August 31, 1958 (Operation Hardtack I).
Under the new compact, Enewetak Atoll and its citizens will not get any more direct operations funding. The US Departmental Offices Budget FY2006 [9] contains a $493,000 reduction in current Enewetak operations funding. The current Compact of Free Association, ratified in December of 2003, now provides funding for this activity within permanent funds, which allows for this funding to be freed up and used for other purposes.
--Compiled by Yokwe Online, July 1, 2005
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Links in this article
[1] http://www.bikiniatoll.com/history.html
[2] http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20050619TDY02004.htm
[3] http://www.pmw.c2o.org/2005/reg4753.html
[4] http://www.greenpeace.org/international/rainbow-warrior-bombing/the-evacuation-of-rongelap
[5] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/06/04/wbikini04.xml
[6] http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h109-2910
[7] http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h109-2910
[8] http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas/pdfs/sec/ppg/fr050505.pdf
[9] http://www.usgs.gov/budget/2006/bh_06_doi.pdf
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