Notable case, Bikini, Marshall Islands
Bikini Atoll
Pikinni
An atoll in the Marshall Islands cleared of its people in 1946 to become a US nuclear proving ground: 23 detonations up to 1958, including Castle Bravo. It is the reference case for the transfer of caesium-137 from coral soil into food plants, which has prevented resettlement.
At a glance
- Status
- Abandoned
- Area
- 600 ha on land, 59,400 ha in water1
- Activity
- 1946–1958
- People affected
- 4,880 (2013)2
- Media
- soil, groundwater, living organisms, sediment
- Kind of site
- nuclear, military
- Area. 6.0 km² of land on 23 islands and a lagoon of 594 km²: the extent of the atoll, not a measure of the contaminated area.
- People affected. Descendants of the Bikini islanders living elsewhere (Wikipedia); 167 people were relocated in 1946.
Contaminants
Status
Abandoned
Not resettled. The IAEA assessment of 1997–1998 concluded that Bikini Island should not be permanently resettled under its present radiological conditions. Only four to six caretakers live on the atoll; the islanders' descendants, about 4,880 in 2013, live on Kili, Majuro, Ejit and in the United States (Wikipedia).
Story
On 7 March 1946 the 167 people of Bikini were moved to Rongerik Atoll, 125 miles to the east. Between 1946 and 1958 the United States detonated 23 devices at the atoll, about 77 megatons in all. The Castle Bravo test, on 1 March 1954, reached 15 megatons.
In 1972 about a hundred people went back to live on Bikini. Coral soil is poor in potassium, and plants take up the chemically similar caesium in its place: caesium-137 passed into coconuts and other local foods. In 1978 residents' body burden of caesium-137 was found to have risen eleven-fold and well water held dangerous levels of strontium-90; in September the island was evacuated again.
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have set out a combined strategy, removing topsoil and applying potassium fertiliser to cut the uptake of caesium-137 by plants, which would bring the dose close to the 15 millirem a year standard. It has not been carried out on a scale that would allow people to return.
Timeline
- 19467 March: the 167 inhabitants are relocated. Nuclear testing begins.
- 19541 March: Castle Bravo test, 15 megatons.
- 1958Last tests.
- 1972About a hundred people return to live on the island.
- 1978September: second evacuation after the caesium-137 and strontium-90 findings.
- 1998The IAEA concludes that Bikini Island should not be permanently resettled under present conditions.
- 20103 August: inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Health
In 1978 the caesium-137 body burden of the people who had returned was found to have risen eleven-fold, from eating local foods (Wikipedia). No studies of health outcomes were read.
Remediation
- —soil removal and potassium fertiliser (proposed)Strategy set out by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: soil removal and added potassium to reduce the caesium-137 taken up by crops.
From the literature
Species that acted on one of this site's contaminants in at least one study. The list is automatic and takes no account of this site's soil, concentrations or climate.
Plants
- Amaranthus retroflexusRedroot pigweedCaesium-137Strontium-90Evidence: field
- Brassica junceaIndian mustardStrontium-90Caesium-137Evidence: field
Fungi
- Cladosporium sphaerospermumRadionuclides (mixed)Evidence: laboratory
- Rhodotorula taiwanensisRadionuclides (mixed)Evidence: laboratory
- Boletus edulisKing bolete, porciniCaesium-137Evidence: survey of wild specimens
Nearby
Sources
- Bikini Atoll, Wikipedia, 2026
Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.