National nuclear commission strategy for Marshall Islands
Marshalls endorses nuclear commission strategy, https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/401921/marshalls-endorses-nuclear-commission-strategy The Marshall Islands government has endorsed the adoption of a national nuclear commission strategy for the next three years.
The strategy honours the legacy of Marshallese nuclear heroes and heroines who fought and continue to demand accountability for their communities.
The strategy was mandated in the Marshall Islands parliament, or Nitijela, as part of the National Nuclear Commission Act of 2017.
It focuses on five broad themes for nuclear justice: compensation, health care, the environment, national capacity, and education and awareness.
From 1946 to 1958, the US used the Marshall Islands to test its nuclear weapons.
The commission also aims to establish an independent panel of scientists and specialists in fields related to radiation exposure, to provide the republic’s citizens access to trusted, independent science.
The commission’s chair, Rhea Moss-Christian, said the NNC strategy was a tool for all Marshallese, whether living in the islands or overseas, to use in their individual and collective efforts to respond to the devastation resulting from the US nuclear weapons testing program in the Marshall Islands.
“It is also a resource for our partners and friends outside the Marshall Islands to understand the nuclear testing impacts that persist today and how they can support the Marshallese people,” Ms Moss-Christian said.
Marshall Islands’ nuclear clean-up workers concerned about radiation leaking
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Nuclear warning: Toxic waste equivalent to 2,000 Hiroshima bombs could be leaking in sea https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1191538/nuclear-waste-cold-war-cleanup-hiroshima-us-news-nuclear-bomb
A CONCRETE dome filled with nuclear waste could be leaking into the ocean, with experts urging the US government to act urgently as humans “cannot wait”.By SEAN MARTIN, Wed, Oct 16, 2019 |Enewetak Atoll is a series of small islands in the South Pacific which the US government used to test its nuclear weapons following World War 2 from 1948 to 1958. Over a ten year period, 30 megatons of weapons – equivalent to 2,000 Hiroshima bombs – were dropped on the islands during the Cold War. When the US had finished its testing, it built a concrete barrier known as the Runit dome to store the debris of 43 nuclear explosions in a clean-up operation lasting from 1977 to 1980.
However, employees who worked on the clean-up believe the dome could be leaking radioactive waste into to the ocean.
In response, the US has invested $1,689,000 (£1.32m) in a mission to analyse the dome, but there are claims that it could be too late as the waste could have seeped into the ocean, which would have an effect on the marine ecosystem.
Paul Griego, a former radiochemist who worked on the cleanup operation from June 1977 to October 1978, said: “We need the very same funding and for the very same analysis – the dome can wait for radiochemical analysis but we are human and we cannot wait.
While the US government said staff were subjected to just low-levels of radiation and wore all the necessary protective gear, Mr Griego has said this was not the case. The 62-year old added: “We are certain we have the very same radionuclides in our bodies that that would be found in the dome. “We were bombarded with radiation while building the dome, we drank the contaminated water, inhaled the dust-filled air, absorbed contaminates though our skin, ate the fish we caught and more. “We are not only denied the diagnostic resources, we are denied healthcare to cover our radiation and toxin-related illnesses.
“The government’s refusal to provide radiochemical resources is malicious and feeds into the status quo. “It places the burden of proof of an illness on the individual rather than the moral responsibility of our government.” The mission saw more than 1,000 employees tasked with collecting contaminated soil and radioactive debris, which was then mixed with concrete and placed in a nuclear test crater, which was sealed in a concrete dome.
However, people who were on the scene said that the dome was not lined with concrete, and warn it could be seeping into the ocean. For this reason, the US will embark on an 18 month mission to analyse the dome to see if needs to be reinforced or perhaps completely removed. Doug Domenech, Assistant US Secretary of the Interior for Insular and International Affairs, said: “The US Departments of the Interior and Energy are partnering on this important analysis of Runit Dome so that we can be responsive to both Congress and concerns expressed by the Enewetak community in the Marshall Islands.”
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Marshall Islands, victim of nuclear testing, now declares a Climate Emergency
Marshall Islands, low-lying US ally and nuclear testing site, declares a climate crisis https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/nation/marshall-islands-low-lying-us-ally-and-nuclear-testing-site/article_4b37cc0d-040d-5b2a-b83e-1df6d71dfb74.html, By Susanne Rust Los Angeles Times (TNS), Oct 11, 2019
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- The Marshall Islands, a low-lying chain of atolls and key U.S. ally in the Central Pacific, has declared a national climate crisis because of the mounting risk of sea-level rise, the nation’s president announced this week.
The nation’s parliament, the Nitijela, overwhelmingly supported a measure that calls upon the international community to step up its efforts to mitigate global warming and provide aid to nations unable to finance safeguards against rising seas.
“As one of only four low-lying coral atoll nations in the world, the failure of the international community to adequately respond to the global climate crisis of its own making holds particularly grave consequences,” wrote President Hilda Heine in a tweet Wednesday.
Low-lying coral atoll nations such as the Marshall Islands, Kiribati and Tuvalu in the Pacific and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean are particularly vulnerable to rising oceans, averaging just a few feet above sea level. There have already been episodes of “King Tide” flooding in the Marshall Islands, which consists of 29 coral atolls, located about 5,000 miles from Los Angeles and 2,000 from Hawaii.
A recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report warned that sea level could rise by 1 to 4 feet by 2100, potentially submerging many of these nations, and by 2050, making many uninhabitable.
The report echoes research sponsored by the Department of Defense, which found Kwajalein Atoll, where the U.S. leases a strategic military base, could become unlivable by 2030, if the Antarctic ice sheet were to melt. Mid-century inhabitability due to flooding, storm waves and ground water contamination by salt water was predicted in a more conservative model.
The resolution calls upon the Nitijela to “unite fully and unequivocally behind the science” and to recognize the rights of the Marshallese youth to grow up in a “climate safe future.”
It asks the international community to “consider additional ways to respond to and support the extreme vulnerability and special circumstances” unique to low-lying coral atoll islands, such as the Marshall Islands.
“Prolonged and unseasonal droughts are hitting us real hard, and saltwater is creeping into our freshwater lands,” said Heine last month at the United Nations Climate Action conference in New York. “We are on the very front line of climate change.”
The United States used the Marshall Islands as a nuclear testing ground during the Cold War, detonating 67 nuclear bombs on the nation between 1946 and 1958.
The U.S. is committing $10 million to the Pacific region for disaster resilience, weather forecasting and “to address environmental challenges,” said a U.S. State Department spokesperson Friday. “The United States recognizes that addressing environmental degradation and climate change is a priority in the Pacific — especially for the Marshall Islands — due to the threat posed by sea level rise and the region’s vulnerability to natural disasters.”
Senate to probe Philippine’s nuclear energy program
Gatchalian, chairman of the committee, filed a resolution for an inquiry on the status of the Department of Energy (DOE)’s Nuclear Energy Program Implementing Organization (NEPIO) in pursuit of his call for transparency in the government’s nuclear initiatives.
“A comprehensive, transparent and public discussion must be made on the merits of a national nuclear program taking into consideration the social, economic, environmental and technical effects and requirements of such a program,” he said.
He added that the development of a nuclear power program in any country requires three phases marked by a specific milestone and the completion of 19 infrastructure requirements, which necessitate specific actions during each of these three phases as indicated in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s milestones in the development of a national infrastructure for nuclear power.
The Philippines, according to the senator, is currently completing phase one, which commenced when the DOE issued Department Order 2016-10-0013 in 2016, creating the NEPIO, which is tasked to explore the development and inclusion of nuclear energy in the country’s electric power supply.
Phase two requires preparation for the contracting and construction of a nuclear power plant after a policy decision has been made, and its milestone is an invitation to bid or negotiate a contract for the power plant.
Meanwhile, phase three details the activities necessary to implement the first nuclear power plant, and its milestone is the commissioning and operation of such activities……..
The senator made the call during the hearing on the DOE’s proposed 2020 budget.
He pushed for the scrutiny of the nuclear energy program after a memorandum of intent was signed by Philippine and Russian officials during President Duterte’s visit to Moscow last week “to jointly explore the prospects of cooperation in the construction of nuclear power plants in the Philippines.”
A proposal to build a floating nuclear power plant in the country was also forwarded by Russia.
One of world’s worst nuclear disasters occurred in 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which was blamed on a flawed Soviet reactor in Ukraine, at the time part of the Soviet Union.https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/10/14/1960013/senate-probe-philippines-nuclear-energy-program#Yu0jW87Rhm5T2TgI.99
US govt to fund study of Marshall Islands nuclear dome water
However, Marshall Islands officials say the lagoon water is already more contaminated than the dome itself, which has been leaking.
The money announced last week will fund a radiochemical analysis of the water surrounding the crater, and an engineering survey of the structure.
Pacific Island nations urge action on climate change at UN
Pacific Island nations urge action on climate change at UN, Pacific leaders want to remind the world what’s at stake for the most vulnerable – low lying nations – if nothing is done to combat climate change. (video) https://www.sbs.com.au/news/pacific-island-nations-urge-action-on-climate-change-at-un
A rude concrete sign indicates a deadly truth about nuclear radiation and cancer
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Nuclear tomb leaking radioactive waste into oceans has ‘rude message’ beneath crumbling shell https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/9986929/nuclear-tomb-radioactive-waste-message-shell/
Harry Pettit, Senior Digital Technology and Science Reporter 23 Sep 2019, A CONCRETE tomb that’s haemorrhaging radioactive waste into the world’s oceans has a very rude hidden message beneath its shell. The men who built the dome in the 1970s sculpted a hand flipping the middle finger, which they buried inside the structure before it was sealed and left to crumble on a remote Pacific island. The Enewetak atoll in the South Pacific was used by the US government to test 30 megatons of atomic weapons – equivalent to 2,000 Hiroshima bombs – between 1948 and 1958. After 43 nuclear detonations, thousands of people were sent to clean the islands, shifting 3million cubic feet of contaminated soil and debris into a blast crater. He said: “The dome is a monumental size, so we wanted to put something inside there, but this was during the Cold War so the idea of an official time capsule wasn’t going to work. “So… a rubber glove? Well, we had plenty of those so that worked.” But if Mr Griego and his comrades left their mark on the island, it also left its mark on them. Our members were dying,” he said. “Dying of cancer. Given the damage wrought by the dome, the middle-finger message turned out to be more apt than anyone realised at the time. “The Runit salute turned out to be the right message in several ways,” said Paul, 62.
“One message is what’s happened to the men that were actually tasked to build this dome? What happens now to the Marshallese, the islanders? “What happens now to the Pacific Ocean, to the rest of the world? The dome is leaking and it has been leaking from the beginning.” The US government does not recognise those who worked to clean Enewetak as atomic veterans, so they cannot receive radiation exposure compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs. |
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Health research on descendants of Pacific nuclear veterans.
Pacific nuclear veterans’ descendants sought for study. https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/pacific-nuclear-veterans-descendants-sought-study A search is underway for descendants of service personnel who witnessed a nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll to take part in a nationwide study.A Mururoa Nuclear Veterans Group wants all veterans who were deployed to Mururoa Atoll in 1973, and their families, to be part of a study as it’s believed their children may have been affected by their parents’ exposure to radiation.
The then Labour government sent a frigate to Mururoa Atoll, including then Cabinet Minister Fraser Colman, to protest against French nuclear testing there.
Mururoa Nuclear Veterans Group wants all people on the frigate, and their families to be part of a study as it’s believed their children may have been affected by their parents’ exposure to radiation. The group, which was established in 2013 to press the government to help families with nuclear related illnesses, had 135 members who served at the protest. Of those, 56 had children or grandchildren with unexplained medical conditions.
University of Otago associate professor David McBride, has been tasked with conducting the first medical testing of veterans’ children and grandchildren.
To establish whether genetic transfer of illnesses are related to exposure to nuclear radiation and create a registry “would be difficult but not impossible,” Mr McBride said.
Mururoa Nuclear Veterans Group vice-president, Tony Cox, was concerned veteran’s offspring could be more susceptible to conditions like leukaemia and auto-immune diseases.
“If we don’t do it now, when we die no one else is going to care. Their sickness and problems we consider is directly attributable to our service,” Mr Cox said.
“Be it Operation Grapple, Christmas Island, Mururoa, anywhere else … widows and children especially we are looking for.” The University of Otago will carry out the study from October or November this year, but a registry needs to be created for the study to work.
Mr Cox encouraged anyone with a nuclear testing background to come forward to take part in the study or identify themselves in order to be included in the registry.
Radiation Levels Higher in Marshall Islands Than in Chernobyl
Radiation Levels Higher in Marshall Islands Than in Chernobyl https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/veteran.html
This is where the United States tested atomic weapons in the 1940s and 1950s. Though it has been over sixty years since testing ended there, the islands are still more radioactive than Chernobyl and Fukushima, sites of two of the worst nuclear reactor disasters.
In a recent study, researchers tested the soil of these sites for plutonium-239 and plutonium-240. In some places, the islands had levels that were ten times higher than soil in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.
While the study was limited, the results indicate that a more thorough test is warranted. The surprising thing to the researchers was that they could not find any guidance from governments or from international organizations which indicated what a permissible level of plutonium would be.
The US tested radioactive weapons in the Marshall Islands even after dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. At the time, the islands were a district of the Trus Territory of the Pacific Islands. The US ran this district on behalf of the United Nations.
The first tests were carried out on Bikini Atoll in 1946 and involved two bombs names Able and Baker. Over the next twelve years, the US tested 67 weapons on the Bikini and Enewetak atolls.
Those tests included one in 1951 code-named Ivy Mike – the first hydrogen bomb test. The largest hydrogen bomb test occurred in 1954 with the Castle Bravo test. Castle Bomb was over 1,000 times more powerful than Little Boy. Little Boy was the bomb that completely destroyed Hiroshima.
The radioactive damage from the tests was not contained to Bikini and Enewetak, though. Fallout from the test contaminated the Rongelap and Utirik atolls which are also part of the Marshall Islands. People on those islands became sick from the radiation levels.
In 2016, a study of background gamma radiation on the three northern atolls in the Marshall Islands, Bikini, Enewetak, and Rongelap, found elevated levels of the radiation. The study found that Bikini even had a higher level than had previously been reported.
That team returned to do more testing. They recently released the results of those studies in the PNAS journal. The studies focused on the Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap, and Utirik Atolls in the northern part of the islands.
The studies found levels of gamma radiation that were significantly higher than the levels of a southern Marshall Island that the researchers used as a control.
Especially bad were the levels on Bikini and Naen islands. Those levels were found to be higher than the maximum exposure limit that the US and the Republic of the Marshall Islands had agreed to in the 1990s.
Along with Runi and Enjebi islands in the Enewetak Atoll, the islands were found to have radioactive plutonium levels in the soil that were higher than what has been found at Chernobyland Fukushima.
Ivana Nikolic-Hughes, director of the K1 Project at the Center for Nuclear Studies, stated that the researchers were surprised at the levels of external gamma radiation on Naen Island.
This island is on the outer edge of the Rongelap Atoll and was populated at the time of the Bravo test. The people were moved from the island, moved back and then moved away again, Nikolic-Hughes called it a “dreadful history” of treatment for the Rongelapese people.
A second study by the group used professional divers to collect 130 samples from the Castle Bravo Crater on the Bikini Atoll. Here, isotopes such as plutonium-239 and 240, americium-241 and bismuth-207 were much higher than they were on other Marshall Islands.
The researchers were interested in testing the crater because they feel it is a first step in determining how the testing of nuclear weapons has affected the ocean.
The third study tested over 200 fruits from the islands. They found many of the fruits contained higher levels of cesium-137 which would be deemed unsafe by several countries and international organizations.
The researchers hope the data gathered can be used to educate the residents of the Marshall Islands about the dangers there and inform them of whether it is safe to live on these islands or gather food from them.
Marshall Islands to survey leaking nuclear dome,
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Marshall Islands to survey leaking nuclear dome, https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/395978/marshall-islands-to-survey-leaking-nuclear-dome , 5 Aug 19, The Marshall Islands government will survey a leaking nuclear-filled dome after growing international concern over the structure. The country’s Nuclear Commission said work is due to start by the end of the year studying the impact of the structure on Enewetak Atoll.It comes after the Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General, Dame Meg Taylor, called for an audit of the dome to determine if it was leaking.
Her UN counterpart, Antonio Guterres, has also raised concerns about the potential radioactive fallout. Nuclear Commission chairperson Rhea Moss-Christian says the survey will take around three years. “We just need to understand better what’s happening, what the status is. We already know that there’s the ground water beneath the dome is mixing with the lagoon water. All we know, based on DOE (US Department of Energy) studies is that the lagoon has more contamination than what is inside the dome.” Ms Moss-Christian said an ongoing US program monitoring the presence of nuclear waste in groundwater continued to be held up by a lack of funding being released by the Department of Interior. “We’ve been relying for years on the data provided by the US through the Department of Energy studies. And we haven’t had a clear enough picture for many years.” |
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Bikini Atoll, site of nuclear bomb testing, still 10 times more radioactive than Chernobyl
After 61 Years, U.S. Testing Site For Nuclear Weapons Still 10 Times More Radioactive Than Chernobyl https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2019/07/25/after-60-years-u-s-testing-site-for-nuclear-weapons-still-10-times-more-radioactive-than-chernobyl/#396a418e26be David Bressan
Between 1946 and 1958 the atolls of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean were testing ground for the United States nuclear arsenal. The first bomb, called Able, was detonated July 25, 1946, on Bikini Atoll. The first-ever American hydrogen bomb, with the code name Ivy Mike, was tested on Enewetak in 1951. The 1954 Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb was 1,000 times more powerful than Little Boy, the uranium bomb that destroyed the Japanese city of Hiroshima. In 12 years the U.S. tested 67 nuclear weapons on the Bikini and Enewetak Atolls. The craters formed by the explosions are visible from space; however, less obvious is the radioactive contamination of the entire area.
A survey conducted in 2015 found concentrations of radioactive plutonium-239 and -240 in the soil of Bikini and Enewetak almost ten times higher than levels in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, where thirty-three years ago the reactor experienced a catastrophic core meltdown, exploded and parts of the nuclear fuel were released. Levels of gamma radiation were also higher than previously reported on Bikini and significantly elevated on sites tested on Enewetak and Rongelap Atolls.. Radioactive fallout from the Castle Bravo test on March 1, 1954, also contaminated the nearby Rongelap and Utirik Atolls, prompting the evacuation of the local population. Still today some sites surpass the maximum exposure for radiation considered safe by experts. Apart the 67 tests, also a leaking nuclear waste repository is contributing to the radioactive pollution of the area.
On Runit Island, one of forty islands forming the Enewetak Atoll, sits “The Dome” – a 100 meters wide crater filled with 85,000 cubic meters of radioactive debris and waste and covered with half a meter of concrete. The dome sits on permeable rocks and in 2013 leaks of radioactive water were noted at the base of the structure. As sea levels are rising the entire site will be flooded, potentially causing widespread radioactive contamination, including plutonium-239.
New revelations on the very high radiation in the Marshall Islands
Nuclear isotopes on Marshall Islands up to 1000 times higher than Chernobyl or Fukushima https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/nuclear-isotopes-on-marshall-islands-1000-times-higher-than-chernobyl-or-fukushima/news-story/eaacb5841fec37b39d8a907353dceb50, 17 July 19,Between Australia and Hawaii are islands where locals were banished due to nuclear testing. New research reveals the extent of the problem. Rohan Smith@ro_smith
Never mind Chernobyl and Fukushima.
New research shows a tiny island halfway between Australia and Hawaii has concentrations of nuclear material up to 1000 times higher than at two well-known meltdown locations in Ukraine and Japan.
Research carried out by Columbia University and published this week shows deadly plutonium levels are far higher than previously thought on the Marshall Islands. The group of 29 atolls was subject to 67 US nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958, with locals forced to flee as the country dropped bomb after bomb in paradise.
The United States entombed nuclear waste under a dome on the island of Runit that some believe is leaking into the Pacific Ocean. However the real impact of the contamination is only now being realised.
Researchers wrote that two atolls, Bikini and Enewetak, “were used as ground zero” and took the brunt of the impact.
On Enewetak, the first-ever hydrogen bomb was tested. But Bikini was the site of the world’s largest-ever hydrogen bomb test — known as Castle Bravo.
The tests, researchers say, “caused unprecedented environmental contamination and, for the indigenous peoples of the islands, long-term adverse health effects”.
Researchers tested levels of radioactive isotopes in soil and food sources and found “a real concern” on Runit where the huge dome was designed to contain radiation but is not working.
“The presence of radioactive isotopes on the Runit Island is a real concern, and residents should be warned against any use of the island,” researchers said.
“Moreover, wash-off of existing isotopes off the islands into the ocean from weathering and continued sea level rise continues to threaten, further contaminating the lagoon and the ocean at large.”
On Bikini, researchers found concentrations of particular radioactive material “were up to 15-1000 times higher than in samples from areas affected by the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters”.
Though residents were banished from the Marshall Islands during the height of the Cold War, many have returned. The Los Angeles Times reports more than 600 people call Enewetak, Runit and Enjebi home.
Jan Beyea, a retired radiation physicist, told the newspaper: “Implicitly, I think these results might caution efforts to return because of the readings found.”
News.com.au previously reported rising sea levels were degrading the concrete dome at Runit, and the US Department of Energy concluded the “burial site” was leaking highly toxic waste.
Locals refer to it as “the poison” and have already been complaining of birth defects and high cancer rates.
After Castle Bravo, islanders more than 160km away mistook fallout for snow. It “caused skin burns, hair loss, nausea and eventually cancer” in many who were exposed, the Times reports.
The warnings from researchers clash with advice from the US Government, which signed a memorandum of understanding with the Republic of the Marshall Islands agreeing it was safe for those who wished to return home.
In the Marshall Islands, the most common cause of death is diabetes, which is related to a thyroid disorder. The second most common cause of death is cancer.
The population of the Marshall Islands is around 70,000 people, with local Marshallese people allowed to live and work in the US without a visa as part of the reparations for the nuclear testing that took place.
Over a third have already moved to the US. It is said when you leave the Marshall Islands, you buy a one-way ticket.
— Additional reporting by Phoebe Loomes
New bill introduced in U.S. Congress will benefit Guam victims of radiation exposure
New bill introduced in Congress will benefit Guam victims of radiation exposure https://pacificnewscenter.com/bill-introduced-in-congress-to-benefit-guam-victims-of-radiation-exposure/
Alarmingly high radiation in soil, ocean sediments and fruits from Marshall Islands
Radiation Levels at the Marshall Islands Remain Disturbingly High https://gizmodo.com/radiation-levels-at-the-
marshall-islands-remain-disturb-1836382678?IR=T, George Dvorsky– 15 July 19
An analysis of soil samples, ocean sediment, and fruits from the Marshall Islands—the site of nearly 70 nuclear weapons tests during the 1940s and 1950s—has revealed alarmingly high levels of radiation, with some regions at levels exceeding areas affected by the Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters.
From 1946 to 1958, the United States conducted 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, a series of atolls located north of the equator between Hawaii and Australia. Twenty-three of these tests were conducted at Bikini Atoll and 44 near Enewetak Atoll, but fallout spread throughout the entire Marshall Islands, exposing the indigenous people there to dangerous levels of radiation.
Much of the Marshall Islands remains uninhabitable as a consequence of these nuclear tests, and it’s not immediately clear when Marshallese residents will be able to return to their ancestral homes. Three new studies published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests their long-awaited return won’t happen anytime soon. A research team led by Emlyn Hughes and Malvin Ruderman from the Center for Nuclear Studies at Columbia University has detected unsafe levels of radiation in the soil, ocean sediment, and fruits in these contaminated areas.
Three years ago, the same team discovered alarming levels of gamma radiationin the Marshall Islands, and at levels that exceeded scientists’ expectations. The three new PNAS studies add to this prior work, which is being done to determine which, if any, of the Marshall Islands are safe for resettlement, and the specific risks that would be faced by returning indigenous peoples.
For the first study, the researchers measured background gamma radiation in soil samples taken from four atolls in 2017 and 2018: Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap, and Utirik. Gamma radiation on Bikini and Naen islands were well beyond the maximum exposure limit as stipulated in agreements between the United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. On Bikini, the levels were as high as 648 millirems per year, and on Naen they were as high as 460 millirems per year. Safe exposure to radiation is 100 millirems per year, according to the U.S.-Republic of the Marshall Islands agreement.
These levels are “significantly higher” than “areas affected by the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents,” wrote the study authors. The “radiation levels on Bikini Island, which served as the primary island for habitation on the atoll, before and in the aftermath of the testing, are too high for relocation to Bikini,” according to the new research. Some of the outer islands “may not [be] suitable for habitation on their own, but… islanders may visit in search of food, especially in times of harvest.”
For the second paper, the researchers explored the Castle Bravo crater—the site of the most powerful nuclear test ever conducted by the United States, which happened on March 1, 1954. This 15-megaton explosion vaporized the land beneath it, forming a crater 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) wide and 75 meters (246 feet) deep on Bikini Atoll. The ensuing fallout was comprised of pulverized coral, water, and radioactive particles. Traces of the radioactive debris were detected as far as Japan, India, Australia, Europe, and even the United States.
The Castle Bravo explosion also produced radioactive material that settled into the ocean sediment. From the research vessel Indies Surveyor, the researchers collected nearly 130 core samples from the Castle Bravo crater from 2017 to 2018. Analysis showed that, six decades later, the radiation levels are still “orders of magnitude” above normal levels within the top inch of sediment across the entire crater. The researchers conclude thusly:
In summary, there is still residual contamination of radionuclides throughout the Bravo bomb crater, from center to rim. We find that the radionuclide distribution is fairly uniform across the crater with some tapering off toward the crater rim….Although the lagoon is gradually filling in over time, contamination levels from residual long-lived radioactive isotopes, such as plutonium and americium, will likely last for centuries. The nuclear weapon tests caused a dramatic change in sediment composition. Additional studies to determine what the impact on life is in the lagoon craters, especially at the deeper depths, would be valuable.
The third paper is an analysis of fruits found in the Marshall Islands, namely coconuts and pandanus fruits. Cesium-137 features a half-life of around 30 years, and it’s easily absorbed by plants, presenting a potential health hazard. Sadly, 11 islands were found to have coconuts and pandanus fruits with radioactivity exceeding limits established by several countries and international organizations, including International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). Once again, some of the levels exceeded values found near Fukushima and Chernobyl.
“Based upon our results, we conclude that to ensure safe relocation to Bikini and Rongelap Atolls, further environmental remediation… appears to be necessary to avoid potentially harmful exposure to radiation,” wrote the authors in the study.
All-in-all, some very discouraging results, as much of the Marshall Islands remain unsafe for resettlement. It’s not immediately clear when these islands will be free of radiation, or if people will ever return to Bikini Atoll. Sadly, climate change is making a bad situation worse, as rising sea levels could render many of the safe Marshall Islands uninhabitable.
Tahitians remember atomic bomb tests and withdraw from France’s propaganda memorial project
Marchers in Tahiti ‘mourn’ French nuclear weapons test legacy https://asiapacificreport.nz/2019/07/05/marches-in-tahiti-mourn-french-nuclear-weapons-test-legacy/, By PMC Editor -July 5, 2019 , By RNZ Pacific
An estimated 2000 people have joined a march in French Polynesia this week to mark the 53rd anniversary of France’s first atomic weapons test in the Pacific.
The first test was on July 2, 1966, after nuclear testing was moved from Algeria to the Tuamotus.
Organisers of the Association 193 described it as a “sad date that plunged the Polynesia people into mourning forever”. The test on Moruroa atoll was the first of 193 which were carried out over three decades until 1996.
The march was to the Place Pouvanaa a Oopa honouring a Tahitian leader.
The march and rally were called by test veterans’ groups and the Maohi Protestant church to also highlight the test victims’ difficulties in getting compensation for ill health.
After changes to the French compensation law, the nuclear-free organisation Moruroa e Tatou wants it to be scrapped as it now compensates no-one. The Association 193 said it was withdrawing from the project of the French state and the French Polynesian government to build a memorial site in Papeete, saying it will only serve as propaganda.
Apart from reparations for the victims, the organisation wants studies to be carried out into the genetic impact of radiation exposure.
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