The Nuclear History Of Bikini Atoll (PHOTOS)
In 1946, as part of a series of tests to determine the vulnerability of warships to atomic attack, the U.S. subjected the Nagato and the Saratoga (sans people) to a blast, code-named Baker, equivalent to the destination of 23,000 tons of TNT. The bomb, detonated 90 feet below the ocean's surface, sent a water spout more than a mile into the air. The ensuing 100-foot waves, plus a million tons of radioactive water falling back into the sea, sent both ships to the bottom. The Lamson had been sunk by Able, an above-water A-bomb blast, three weeks earlier.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-m-clash/bikini-provides-scuba-div_b_1509656.html?ref=topbar
Event Baker explosion (1946)
See film on YouTube: Nuclear Blast - Operation Crossroads - Baker Event 1946
Background and history (IAEA Report)
Bikini Atoll is located 850 kilometers northwest of Majuro on the northern fringe of the Marshall Islands and is composed of more than 23 islands and islets. Four islands (Bikini, Eneu, Nam and Enidrik) account for over 70% of the land area. Bikini and Eneu are the only islands of the atoll that have had a permanent population. In 1946, Bikini Atoll was the first site in the Marshall Islands used for nuclear-weapon testing by the United States. In 1948, Enewetak Atoll, a neighboring atoll, replaced Bikini Atoll as the test site. In 1954, Bikini Atoll was reactivated as a test site until the US terminated nuclear-weapon testing in the Marshall Islands in 1958.
Prior to the first nuclear test in 1946, the 167 Bikinians living on Bikini Island were evacuated to neighbouring islands. By the time nuclear-weapon testing in the Marshall Islands was terminated in July 1958, sixteen nuclear-weapon tests had been conducted on Bikini Atoll over a 12-year period. All of these tests were surface or atmospheric tests. They were conducted in or over the Atoll lagoon, thereby dispersing the explosion’s effects over all of the islands of the Atoll. The history of the radiological assessments and the movement of the local population is very important in understanding the overall concerns. In August 1968 — following a number of radiological surveys that had been carried out since 1958 to assess the impact of the US programme of nuclear-weapon testing — it was announced that Bikini Atoll was safe for habitation and approved for resettlement. A further radiological survey of Bikini Atoll was carried out in 1970.
Eventually, 139 Bikinians resettled on the Atoll. However, the Bikinian people remained unconvinced of the safety of the Atoll, and in 1975 they initiated a lawsuit against the US Government to terminate the resettlement effort until a satisfactory and comprehensive radiological survey had been carried out...
http://www-ns.iaea.org/appraisals/bikini-atoll.asp
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-m-clash/bikini-provides-scuba-div_b_1509656.html?ref=topbar
Event Baker explosion (1946)
See film on YouTube: Nuclear Blast - Operation Crossroads - Baker Event 1946
Background and history (IAEA Report)
Bikini Atoll is located 850 kilometers northwest of Majuro on the northern fringe of the Marshall Islands and is composed of more than 23 islands and islets. Four islands (Bikini, Eneu, Nam and Enidrik) account for over 70% of the land area. Bikini and Eneu are the only islands of the atoll that have had a permanent population. In 1946, Bikini Atoll was the first site in the Marshall Islands used for nuclear-weapon testing by the United States. In 1948, Enewetak Atoll, a neighboring atoll, replaced Bikini Atoll as the test site. In 1954, Bikini Atoll was reactivated as a test site until the US terminated nuclear-weapon testing in the Marshall Islands in 1958.
Prior to the first nuclear test in 1946, the 167 Bikinians living on Bikini Island were evacuated to neighbouring islands. By the time nuclear-weapon testing in the Marshall Islands was terminated in July 1958, sixteen nuclear-weapon tests had been conducted on Bikini Atoll over a 12-year period. All of these tests were surface or atmospheric tests. They were conducted in or over the Atoll lagoon, thereby dispersing the explosion’s effects over all of the islands of the Atoll. The history of the radiological assessments and the movement of the local population is very important in understanding the overall concerns. In August 1968 — following a number of radiological surveys that had been carried out since 1958 to assess the impact of the US programme of nuclear-weapon testing — it was announced that Bikini Atoll was safe for habitation and approved for resettlement. A further radiological survey of Bikini Atoll was carried out in 1970.
Eventually, 139 Bikinians resettled on the Atoll. However, the Bikinian people remained unconvinced of the safety of the Atoll, and in 1975 they initiated a lawsuit against the US Government to terminate the resettlement effort until a satisfactory and comprehensive radiological survey had been carried out...
http://www-ns.iaea.org/appraisals/bikini-atoll.asp
