Paradise lost; this is the scene of nuclear testing by the USA from 1946 to 1954. The last bomb, a thermonuclear device blew a crater in the atoll 2 kilometers wide and destroyed three islands.
In 1946, the people of Bikini were told they were to move, for a short time, to assist in an experiment to stop all wars for ever. They weren't told that they would never go back - to this day, the atoll is uninhabitable, crops grown there are still full of Cesium 165, and the whole island is a toxic experiment site.
There were some attempts to create a tourist site - the wrecks in the waters are a divers paradise, and the fish life is astounding. But the wrecks are so deep, and travelling to bikini atoll is so arduous, most divers charter their own boats and have to use specialised equipment for the deep diving required.
The other environmental ticking time bomb is the oil and fuel still in the wrecks; as they rust away they will release tonnes of fuel into the lagoon, and destroy what the bombs did not.
The yearning of the Bikinians is real - we all want a home and somewhere to belong; they can't have that.
Remember their sacrifice.
In 1946, the people of Bikini were told they were to move, for a short time, to assist in an experiment to stop all wars for ever. They weren't told that they would never go back - to this day, the atoll is uninhabitable, crops grown there are still full of Cesium 165, and the whole island is a toxic experiment site.
There were some attempts to create a tourist site - the wrecks in the waters are a divers paradise, and the fish life is astounding. But the wrecks are so deep, and travelling to bikini atoll is so arduous, most divers charter their own boats and have to use specialised equipment for the deep diving required.
The other environmental ticking time bomb is the oil and fuel still in the wrecks; as they rust away they will release tonnes of fuel into the lagoon, and destroy what the bombs did not.
The yearning of the Bikinians is real - we all want a home and somewhere to belong; they can't have that.
Remember their sacrifice.
