This is Bikini Atoll, a beautiful paradise in the Pacific islands of Micronesia. But behind this idyllic image lies the harrowing tale of an island robbed of its inhabitants by a utterly failed nuclear test.
For more than 2,000 years, a small indigenous community has lived peacefully in this secluded paradise.
After World War II, US forces contacted 167 islanders and temporarily left the island so that the US could conduct atomic bomb tests “for the benefit of mankind and to end all warfare.” I asked him if he was willing. ””.
War is not uncommon, as the island was occupied by Japanese forces during World War I and World War II, and the islanders easily surrendered and turned to US forces.
Evacuation began in 1946, and the residents of Bikini gathered their belongings to find warships, planes, about 25,000 radiological recorders, 5,000 animals (for radiation experiments), and thousands of US military personnel. I watched people take over their homes.
In 12 years from 1946 to 1958, he detonated 23 atomic bombs on Bikini Atoll. These include bombs more powerful than those dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1954.
The hydrogen bomb that exploded in 1954 was three times more powerful than expected.
The scale of the 1954 nuclear explosion was grossly underestimated by the United States, releasing millions of tons of sand, coral and marine life into the air. The result is simply scandalous. Shown here is a large crater or hole in the ground caused by an American hydrogen bomb detonation.
An American VIP audience watched the nuclear explosion from a safe distance as if it were the premiere of a Hollywood movie.
Lieutenant General William Brandy (left) and his wife, Major General Frank Rowley, celebrate the 1946 nuclear test at Bikini Atoll. Brandy was in charge of the experiment. The 4,444 residents of nearby islands, about 160 miles from Bikini Atoll, were not notified or evacuated and were never within the blast radius, but a two-inch layer of radioactive dust fell everywhere. Awakened to see the poisoned water and immediately contaminated drinking water. . Children were playing in the ashes without knowing what it was.
At night, however, everyone panicked at signs of radiation exposure, such as hair loss, profuse vomiting, and diarrhea. Radiation effects caused severe illness and tragic death. It took the US government two days to contact, provide medical care, and evacuate the affected population.
A nearby Japanese fishing boat and its 23 crew members were also exposed to ash for unknown reasons hours after the explosion.
Bikini Atoll is now riddled with explosion craters and sinkholes, and will never be safe to live in again, no matter what the inhabitants make us believe.
The US government tried to move them from one island to another with minimal assistance. Over the years, plagued by malnutrition (due to lack of food and water supplies) and a mysterious disease, the Bikinis have struggled to make their mark.
Finally, in the 1970s, after the Atomic Energy Commission declared Bikini Atoll,