Event
U.S. nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands
Sixty-seven U.S. nuclear weapons tests at Bikini and Enewetak atolls between 1946 and 1958.
- Dates
- Jul 1946 – 1958
Connections 9
involved
- United States government fired 67 tests Primary record 1
- Bikini Atoll 23 tests Primary record 2
- Enewetak Atoll 43 tests Primary record 1
- Marshall Islands the National Cancer Institute counts 14,000 residents exposed to the testing Primary record 3
part of
includes
- Castle Bravo Primary record 5
- Operation Crossroads Primary record 5
led to
- Runit Dome Primary record 1
located in
- Marshall Islands Primary record 2
Timeline 1 date
- Jul 1946 – 1958 U.S. nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands
Proof 5 sources
-
Report on the Status of the Runit Dome in the Marshall Islands (Report to Congress, June 2020), U.S. Department of Energy, Jun 2020.
Primary record
Between 1946 and 1958, the U.S. conducted 67 atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands, 43 of which were conducted at Enewetak Atoll.
In the mid to late 1970s, the U.S. conducted cleanup operations at the Enewetak Atoll by stripping off successive layers of contaminated soil to reduce the level of Pu in surface soils.
The waste soil and other radiologically contaminated debris were mixed with cement grout, placed inside the crater formed from the Cactus nuclear weapons test, and covered with a circular, dome-shaped concrete cap
-
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
conducting a total of 67 detonations throughout the territory of the Marshall Islands, mostly in Bikini (23) and Enewetak (43)
-
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 NCI in September 2004 estimated that nuclear testing would result in about 530 additional lifetime cancers among the 14,000 Marshall Islands residents exposed to the testing.
-
Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, Final Report, Chapter 12: Introduction, U.S. Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (copy on the U.S. Department of Energy Openness site), 1995.
Primary record
these were the Cold War needs that led directly to the events with which this chapter is concerned.
-
Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, Final Report, Chapter 12: The Marshallese, U.S. Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (copy on the U.S. Department of Energy Openness site), 1995.
Primary record
The Bravo shot was detonated on Bikini at 6:45 a.m. on March 1, 1954. Its yield was substantially greater than expected.
Testing of nuclear weapons began on July 1, 1946, with Operation Crossroads, two tests at Bikini Atoll.
Page history 1 change
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