Nuclear Testing in the Marshall Islands: A Chronology of Events
1946
March - The U.S. Navy evacuates 167 Bikini Islanders to Rongerik Atoll, 125 miles to the east, to make way for the first post World War II nuclear weapons tests.
May - As a safety measure, islanders from Enewetak, Rongelap and Wotho atolls are relocated for the duration of Operation Crossroads. July Operation Crossroads is launched with "Able" and "Baker" nuclear tests at Bikini. Both are Hiroshima-size atomic tests. "Baker", an underwater test, contaminates target fleet of World War II ships in Bikini's lagoon.
1947
July - The Marshall Islands and the rest of Micronesia became a United Nations strategic Trust Territory administered by the United States. Among other obligations, the U.S. undertakes to "protect the inhabitants against the loss of their lands and resources." December Enewetak Atoll is selected for the second series of U.S. nuclear tests, and the Enewetak people are quickly moved to Ujelang Atoll. In 1947, the Marshall Islands becomes a United Nations strategic Trust Territory administered by the United States. Among other obligations, the U.S. undertakes to "protect the inhabitants against the loss of their lands and resources."
1948
March - On the verge of starvation, the Bikinians are taken off Rongerik Atoll and moved to Kwajalein, where they stay for six months while a new home is found for them. April Operation Sandstone begins at Enewetak and includes three atomic tests. The Bikini community moves to southern Kill, a single island with no protected lagoon or anchorage.
1951
April - Operation Greenhouse starts at Enewetak. Four atomic tests are conducted.
1952
November - Operation Ivy opens at Enewetak and includes the first test of a hydrogen device. The Mike test vaporizes one island and is estimated at 10.4 megatons, or some 750 times larger than the Hiroshima bomb.
1954
January - Preparations commence at Bikini Atoll for Operation Castle, to test a series of megaton range weapons, including America's first deliverable hydrogen bomb.
February 28 - 6 p.m. On the eve of the Bravo test, weather reports indicate that atmospheric "conditions were getting less favorable." At midnight, just seven hours from the shot, the weather report reports there are "less favorable winds at 10,000 to 25,000-foot levels." Winds at 20,000 feet "were headed for Rongelap to the east."
March 1 - Bikini's weather outlook downgraded to "unfavorable" and Joint Task Force 7 directs several ships to move 20 miles to the south to remove them from the expected fallout zone. Despite weather reports showing that winds are blowing in the direction of inhabited islands, the March 1 Bravo hydrogen bomb test is detonated at Bikini. At 15 megatons, it is 1,000 times the strength of the Hiroshima bomb. Within hours a gritty, white ash is enveloping islanders on Rongelap and Ailinginae Atolls. A few hours later, American weathermen are exposed to the snowstorm of fallout on Rongerik, and still later the people of Utrik and other islands experience the fallout "mist". Those exposed experience nausea, vomiting and itching skin and eyes. March 3 Rongelap islanders are evacuated 48 hours later, and Utrik is evacuated 72 hours after Bravo. Both groups are taken to Kwajalein for observation. Skin burns on the heavily exposed people begin to develop, and later their hair falls out. The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission issues a statement to the press calling Bravo a "routine atomic test", and stating that some Americans and Marshallese were "unexpectedly exposed to some radioactivity. There were no burns. All were reported well."
March 7 - Project 4.1, "Study of Response of Human Beings Exposed to Significant Beta and Gamma Radiation due to Fallout from High Yield Weapons," establishes a secret medical group to monitor and evaluate the Rongelap and Utrik people.
April - A Project 4.1 memo recommends that the exposed Rongelap people should have "no exposure for (the) rest of (their) natural lives." April 29 Department of Defense report states that the "only other populated atoll which received fallout of any consequence at all was Ailuk...It was calculated that a dose...would reach approximately 20 roentgens. Balancing the effort required to move the 400 inhabitants against the fact that such a dose would not be a medical problem it was decided not to evacuate the atoll."
May - Utrik Islanders allowed to return home because, according to U.S. officials, "Their island was only slightly contaminated and considered safe for habitation." Read more:
The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) is a nation of about 60,000 people living on 29 coral atolls and 5 low-lying islands in the central Pacific, mid-way between Hawaii and Australia. The RMI adopted its Constitution in 1979 and signed the Compact of Free Association with the United States in 1986. The RMI became a member of the United Nations in 1991.
