Editing Rongelap Atoll (section)

== Nuclear testing impact ==

===The tests===

From 1946 until 1958 the [[United States]] military conducted numerous [[atmosphere|atmospheric]] [[nuclear weapons test]]s, including [[hydrogen bomb]] tests, primarily at [[Bikini Atoll]], about {{convert|120|km|sp=us}} from Rongelap Atoll. On March 1, 1954, the testing of the [[Castle Bravo]] hydrogen device produced an explosion that was 2½ times more powerful than predicted, and produced unexpected amounts of fallout<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK236608|title=Radiological Assessments for Resettlement of Rongelap in the Republic of the Marshall Islands|last=United States National Research Council Committee on Radiological Safety in the Marshall Islands|chapter=Introduction |publisher=National Academies Press|year=1994|pages=Introduction}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Bikini Atoll Survey "Operation Crossroads," 1946-47|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|url=http://www.mnh.si.edu/onehundredyears/expeditions/bikini.html|access-date=8 August 2013|archive-date=2 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502185526/http://www.mnh.si.edu/onehundredyears/expeditions/bikini.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> that resulted in widespread [[radioactive contamination]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/MuhammadKaleem.shtml | title = Energy of a Nuclear Explosion | year = 2000 | last = Kaleem| first = Muhammad | work = The Physics Factbook | access-date = 2007-07-22| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070810132732/http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/MuhammadKaleem.shtml| archive-date= 10 August 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref name=brit>Lorna Arnold and Mark Smith. (2006). [[Britain, Australia and the Bomb]], Palgrave Press, p. 77.</ref><ref>John Bellamy Foster (2009). ''The Ecological Revolution: Making Peace with the Planet'', Monthly Review Press, New York, p. 73.</ref> The [[mushroom cloud]] contaminated more than {{convert|7000|sqmi}} of the surrounding [[Pacific Ocean]] including some of the then inhabited surrounding islands including [[Rongerik Atoll]], Rongelap Atoll ({{convert|120|km|sp=us}} away) and [[Utirik Atoll]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Titus |first= A. Costandina |title= Bombs in the Backyard Atomic Testing and American Politics |location= Reno |publisher= University of Nevada |year= 2001 |isbn= 9780874173703 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=eQfG-U5iAPYC }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

[[irradiation|Irradiated]] debris fell up to {{convert|2|cm|sp=us|1}} deep over the island. A United States military medical team visited the island with [[geiger counter]]s the day after the fallout, but left without telling the islanders of the danger they had been exposed to.<ref name="green"/> Virtually all the inhabitants experienced severe [[radiation sickness]], including itchiness, sore skin, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue. Their [[symptom]]s also included burning eyes and swelling of the neck, arms, and legs.<ref name=gid>Isobelle Gidley and Richard Shears (1986). ''The Rainbow Warrior Affair'', Unwin, p. 155.</ref> The inhabitants were forced to abandon the islands, leaving all their belongings, three days after the test. They were relocated to [[Kwajalein]] for medical treatment.<ref name=gid/><ref>Gerald H. Clarfield and William M. Wiecek (1984). ''Nuclear America: Military and Civilian Nuclear Power in the United States 1940-1980'', Harper & Row, New York, p. 207.</ref> Six days after the Castle Bravo test, the U.S government set up a secret [[Project 4.1|project]] to study the medical effects of the weapon on the residents of the [[Marshall Islands]].<ref>{{cite web | work=James Reeves to Frank D. Peel | title=Establishment of Program 4 and Project 4.1 in Castle | date=11 March 1954 | url=http://worf.eh.doe.gov/ihp/chron/F15.PDF | access-date=16 June 2020 | archive-date=27 September 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927225402/http://worf.eh.doe.gov/ihp/chron/F15.PDF | url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[United States]] was subsequently accused of having used the inhabitants in medical research (without receiving consent) to study the effects of nuclear exposure.<ref name="green"/> Until that time, the United States [[United Nations Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]] had given little thought to the potential impact of widespread fallout contamination and health and ecological impacts beyond the formally designated boundary of the test site.

===Failed return to the atoll===

In 1957, three years later, the United States government declared the area 'clean and safe' and allowed the islanders to return,<ref>{{Citation|last=McCool |first=Woodford C. |publication-date=1957-02-06 |title=Return of Rongelapese to their Home Island - Note by the Secretary |publisher=United States Atomic Energy Commission |url=http://worf.eh.doe.gov/ihp/chron/A43.PDF |access-date=2007-11-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070925185914/http://worf.eh.doe.gov/ihp/chron/A43.PDF |archive-date=September 25, 2007 }}</ref> though they were told to stick to canned foods and avoid the northern islets of the atoll.<ref name="green"/> US scientists noted that "The habitation of these people on the island will afford most valuable ecological radiation data on human beings."<ref>{{Cite journal |last= Johnson |first=Giff |date= February 1979 |title= Micronesia: America's 'strategic' trust |journal= The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=15|doi=10.1080/00963402.1979.11458582 |bibcode=1979BuAtS..35b..10J }}</ref> Contrary to the US government's assurances, evidence of continued contamination mounted, as many residents developed thyroid-tumors,<ref name="green"/><ref name=gid/> and many children died of [[leukemia]].<ref name=gid/> Rates of miscarriages and stillbirths in Rongelap were twice the rate of unexposed women in the Marshall Islands.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=De Ishtar|first=Zohl|author-link=Zohl de Ishtar|date=May 2003|title=Poisoned Lives, Contaminated Lands: Marshall Islanders Are Paying a High Price for the United States Nuclear Arsenal|url=https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1442&context=sjsj|journal=Seattle Journal for Social Justice|volume=2|issue=1|pages=291}}</ref> The magistrate of Rongelap, [[John Anjain]], whose own son died of leukemia, appealed for international help, without significant response.

=== Relocated by Greenpeace ===

In 1984, [[Marshall Islands]] senator, [[Jeton Anjain]] approached the environmental group [[Greenpeace]] to seek their help in relocating the people of Rongelap and in 1985, 'Operation Exodus' took place. In three trips, the ''[[Rainbow Warrior (1955)|Rainbow Warrior]]'' moved approximately 350 people and {{convert|100|t|sp=us}} of building material.<ref name="green"/> to the islets of [[Mejato]] and [[Ebeye]] on [[Kwajalein]] atoll, approximately {{convert|180|km|sp=us}} away. The operation took 10 days, moving everyone from 80-year-olds to newborns, as well as their homes and belongings. [[Ebeye]] is significantly smaller than the islands of Rongelap, and joblessness, suicide, and overcrowding have proven to be problems following the resettlement.{{citation needed|date=August 2013}}

=== Compensation ===
In September 1996, the [[United States Department of the Interior]] signed a $45 million resettlement agreement with the islanders, stipulating that the islanders themselves will scrape off a few inches of Rongelap's still contaminated surface. However, this is an operation deemed impossible by some critics.{{According to whom|date=March 2011}} In recent years, [[James Matayoshi]], the mayor of Rongelap, claimed that the cleanup was successful and envisioned a new promising future for the inhabitants and for tourists.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visitrongelap.com/ |title=Rongelap Atoll Local Government - Marshall Islands }}</ref> Scientific measurements made in August 2014 verified a safe level of radiation on Rongelap.<ref name="20170522CC">{{cite web |last1=Lestch |first1= Corinne |title= Discovering Nuclear Studies Through the Marshall Islands |url= https://www.college.columbia.edu/about/stories/discovering-nuclear-studies-through-marshall-islands|website=Columbia College|publisher=[[Columbia University]]|access-date=18 November 2017}}</ref>

=== Aftermath ===
In 1991, the People of Rongelap and [[Jeton Anjain]] received the [[Right Livelihood Award]] "for their steadfast struggle against United States nuclear policy in support of their right to live on an unpolluted Rongelap island."

In 2012, the US government under the [[Barack Obama administration]] reasserted its position that it had satisfactorily compensated the Rongelap victims.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://geneva.usmission.gov/2012/09/18/hrc-statement-on-u-s-efforts-to-address-the-impacts-of-nuclear-testing-in-the-marshall-islands/|title=U.S. Statement on the Report of the Special Rapporteur|website=www.geneva.usmission.gov|date=18 September 2012 }}</ref>

In 2019 Chinese investor Cary Lan leased a large part of the atoll for a proposed special economic zone, in what was seen as part of ongoing efforts by China to expand its reach into the Pacific and conduct [[Foreign relations of Taiwan|chequebook diplomacy]] against [[Taiwan]].<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Financial Times|title=Pacific islands: a new arena of rivalry between China and the US|date=9 April 2019|url=https://www.ft.com/content/bdbb8ada-59dc-11e9-939a-341f5ada9d40}}</ref> After his arrest in Thailand in 2020, the project was abandoned. He was deported to the United States in 2022 for allegedly bribing elected officials in this case.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62830548 | title=Marshall Islands: Chinese pair plotted 'mini-state' in Pacific nation | work=BBC News | date=8 September 2022 }}</ref>