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Transcript

Operation Crossroads

Idea

Inspiration

It all began after the nuclear win of WWII.

  • Americans wanted to further improve the atom bomb, as well as to test the effect of said bombs on the U.S. naval fleet
  • needed location far from America, not many people to displace
  • had received Marshall Island territory from WWII
  • bombs had never been tested in the Pacific
  • all of these criteria pointed to one location: Pikkini Atoll, later changed to "Bikini"

Name change

The original name of the atoll was Pikkini Atoll, "Pik" meaning "surface", and "ni" meaning coconut, or the surface of a coconut. When Americans arrived to the atoll, the name quickly evolved into Bikini, due to it being easier to pronounce.

Name Change

Truman's Order

In December of 1945, President Truman issued a directive to Army and Navy officials that testing of nuclear weapons would be necessary "to determine the effect of atomic bombs on American warships."

Truman's Order

The People of Pikkini

  • lifestyle based mostly on fishing and farming
  • skilled boat-builders
  • society mostly bound by tradition and family association
  • every lagoon run by king and queen

Culture of Natives

  • Japan occupied the atoll starting in 1914
  • Islanders worked copra plantations, with a portion of sales going to the Japanese
  • Chiefs retained up to 20,000$ per year, and the rest was distributed among workers

Japanese Occupation

Picture of copra drying. Copra refers to dried portions of the inner 'meat' of a coconut.

Confrontation

  • February of 1946, military governor of the Marshalls travelled to Bikini
  • he assembled the Bikinians to ask if they would be willing to leave their atoll -temporarily - so that the United States could begin testing atomic bombs for "the good of mankind and to end all world wars.
  • King Juda, the then leader of the Bikinians, stood among his confused people and stated, "We will go believing that everything is in the hands of God."

Evacuation of Natives

Evacuation

  • while the 167 Bikinians began their exodus, the U.S. quickly prepared the now-testing site
  • the natives were sent 125 miles eastward to Rongerik Atoll
  • the atoll was uninhabited due to its incredibly small size (up to 1/6x smaller than Bikini)
  • well-known belief that island was inhabited by evil spirits
  • U.S. left Bikinians enough food for only a few weeks
  • began to suffer from starvation and fish poisoning due to the lack of edible fish surrounding the island
  • began to beg to return to Bikini just two months after their departure

Juda's Lie

In July, the Bikinian leader Juda returned to the atoll to view the results of the second nuclear test. Juda returned to to Rongerik and claimed to his people that the island was intact, the trees were the same, and that everything there looked exactly the same. It is unknown as to why exactly he did this.

Betrayal

Amount of U.S. military involved

Numbers

  • 242 naval ships
  • 156 aircraft
  • 25,000 radiation recording devices
  • 5,400 experimental rats, goats and pigs
  • Over 42,000 U.S. military and civilian personnel

Testing

Bombs

  • two large bombs were initially dropped on the Atoll, "Able" and "Baker"
  • both bombs were about the size of the one dropped on Nagasaki during WWII
  • eighteen tons of filming equipment, and more than half the world's supply of film were on hand to record the disaster
  • about 21 other nuclear devices were detonated between 1946 and 1958
  • tests happened in the water, above land, and on land
  • Third detonation was postponed due to concern from Baker fallout
  • While the ships effected were unmanned, they were loaded with hundreds of live animals

Able

Able was a plutonium bomb that exploded in the air over 80 unmanned target vessels on July 1, 1946.

Able

Baker

Baker was detonated underwater, it managed to displace a lot of water that then damaged 74 unmanned ships. It released a radioactive mist that threatened to harm U.S. personnel working to decontaminate the area.

Baker

Bravo- "The Big One"

Bravo

  • first hydrogen bomb
  • a thousand times more powerful the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during WWII
  • dropped in the northwest corner of Bikini Atoll
  • exploded on the surface of a large coral reef, blasted a crater a mile wide and 200 feet deep, replacing the island and the reef it landed on
  • fallout traveled up to 125 miles east of Bikini Atoll
  • known for creating one of the most significant instances of radioactive contamination in U.S. history

Displacement

  • throughout the testing, natives were displaced up to 4 times depending on the family
  • kept needing to be moved due to the fact that every island they were put on was largely uninhabitable, something the U.S. failed to consider
  • during this period, starved and desperate, there was an agreement signed that not only signed over full rights of Bikini to the U.S., but also that any claims based on the nuclear testing would have to be relayed to the Bikinian leader rather than the U.S. government

Displacement

Order

  • Bikini Atoll (1946)
  • Rongerik Atoll (1948)
  • Kwajalein (1948)
  • Kili (1957) [main settlement]
  • Jaluit (1958) [some families relocated here in '57, but moved back to Kili soon after]

Order

Lawsuits

Lawsuit

  • several attempts made on behalf of Bikinian people to launch lawsuits against the U.S.
  • reparations were distributed several times, but never enough for action to be taken on a big level
  • latest one, Bikinians were promised up to $563,315,500.00
  • however, it was launched by a small council that is also severely underfunded
  • if Bikinians are to recieve this money, they would have to take it to Congress. otherwise, U.S. has shown no signs of payment

Impact

  • up to 42 coral species were determined to be extinct
  • local wildlife and reefs were devastated
  • in 1972, coconut crabs were still considered too radioactive to consume, as well as all native fruits
  • the amount of radioactive materials in well water, as well as ocean water, exceeded well over the U.S. limit

Impact

Return

  • against official advice, several Bikinians returned home in 1972
  • in 1975, during regular monitoring, officials discovered "higher levels of radioactivity than originally thought"
  • found that well water was not safe, nor was any of the native food
  • delayed informing islanders for several months
  • 1978, 75% increase in radioactive caesium 137 described as "incredible"
  • Interior department announced plans to relocate Bikinians within 70-90 days
  • Bikinians were once again removed from home land

Bikini Today

  • Bikini is under an official decree that no permanent residence shall be allowed
  • If topsoil was removed, caesium levels would possibly be low enough for Bikinians to move back, but the funding is not there
  • Coral reefs specifically have made a surprising comeback
  • Almost all of the islanders alive today have never actually lived on the island

Bikini Today

Runit Dome

  • The Runit Dome, otherwise known as a 'nuclear coffin'
  • covers a bomb crater 350 ft deep filled with irradiated soil
  • made of concrete
  • has been found to fall into disrepair in recent years, leaking runoff into the surroundings

The Dome

Status as WHS

  • in 2010, Bikini Atoll became recognized as a World Heritage site
  • due to the unique situation the island is in following the testing
  • "symbolizes the dawn of the nuclear age, despite its paradoxical image of peace and of earthly paradise"

Heritage Site

Sources

https://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/putting-the-nuclear-coffin-in-perspective/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_Atoll

https://www.bikiniatoll.com/history.html

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/83237/revisiting-bikini-atoll

https://www.bikiniatoll.info/nuclear-testing-at-bikini-atoll/

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1339/

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