Event
Section 177 Agreement, 1986
The agreement under the 1986 Compact in which the U.S. accepted responsibility for compensation for the Marshall Islands tests and put in $150 million.
- Dates
- 1986
Connections 4
involved
- United States government accepted responsibility for compensation; put in $150 million Primary record 12
- United States government earlier payments: Rongelap $950,000 in 1964; Utrik $1,000 a resident in 1977 Primary record 2
- Government of the Marshall Islands agreed that U.S. courts would no longer hear its citizens' claims Primary record 1
led to
- Nuclear Claims Tribunal Primary record 123
Timeline 1 date
- 1986 Section 177 Agreement, 1986
Proof 3 sources
-
Report of the Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes, Calin Georgescu, Addendum: Mission to the Marshall Islands and the United States of America (A/HRC/21/48/Add.1), United Nations Human Rights Council, 3 Sep 2012.
Primary record
accepts the responsibility for compensation owing to citizens of the Marshall Islands, for loss or damage to property and person of the citizens of the Marshall Islands, resulting from the nuclear testing program
Under article X, the Marshall Islands agreed to an espousal provision, which terminated any legal proceedings against the United States or its agents related to the nuclear weapons testing programme
Upon the entry into force of the Compact in 1986, however, an amended motion to dismiss the case was granted.
Several suits filed thereafter were also dismissed on the grounds that the courts now lacked the jurisdiction owing to the existence of section 177
Currently, the Nuclear Claims Fund contains less than $50,000, and award claims have been suspended.
-
Republic of the Marshall Islands Changed Circumstances Petition to Congress (CRS report RL32811, updated 30 August 2005), Congressional Research Service, U.S. Library of Congress, 30 Aug 2005.
Primary record
The Section 177 Agreement granted $150 million as part of a "full and final settlement" of legal claims against the U.S. government
1964 P.L. 88-485 Rongelap personal injury compensation $950,000
Utrik compensation for exposure to radioactive fallout $1,000 per resident as of March 1, 1954 ($157,000 est.)
The Compact of Free Association, Section 177, established a Nuclear Claims Tribunal to adjudicate claims related to the nuclear testing program and provided $45.75 million for payment of awards over a period of 15 years.
As of December 2004, the NCT had paid $71.7 million on personal injury awards totaling over $87 million to 1,917 individuals.
Over 40% of awardees died before receiving full compensation due to lack of funds and the pro-rated basis of making payments.
Unpaid NCT property damages awards (due to lack of funds) to Enewetak Atoll ($386 million) and Bikini Atoll ($563 million) for loss of use of their lands (past and future), restoration costs, and hardships suffered.
-
Statement of David B. Cohen, counsel to the Enewetak/Ujelang Local Government, to the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, 21 October 2021, U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Natural Resources (hearing file HHRG-117-II15-20211021-SD007), 21 Oct 2021.
Primary record
Utrik: 2006 award of $307,356,398.91 with no payments.
Rongelap: 2007 award of $1,031,468,700 (including April 2008 amendment adding $237,500) with no payments
The Tribunal suspended payments in January 2009 due to lack of funds.
In current dollars, the total amount of unpaid damage awards issued by the tribunal is over $3 billion.
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