2024-08-07 19:20:48
washingtonNa: The beautiful islands with crystal blue waters and white sand beaches also hold radioactive secrets. Off-limits to the rest of the world, the Bikini and Enewetak atolls of the Marshall Islands were the site of more than 23 nuclear explosions between 1946 and 1958. It was also the site of the first hydrogen bomb explosion. This place between Hawaii and the Philippines is now home to sharks that have a single dorsal fin due to the impact of these explosions. After World War II, the US used this place for its nuclear research and development programs, causing huge losses to the fauna and humans here.
“There are sharks on the Marshall Islands that have only one dorsal fin. The belief is that radiation causes mutations and that has been shown to be true. That’s why we have mutant sharks on Bikini Atoll that are missing fins,” Steve Palumbi, a professor of marine science at Stanford University who has been studying the effects of nuclear radiation on the islands, reports The Sun. “I’ve never seen anything like this before and that means we have a scientific mystery to solve.”
effect of nuclear explosion
According to reports, the H bomb was 1,100 times bigger than the atomic bomb detonated in Hiroshima, which had a huge impact on the Bikini Atoll. Experts suspect that radiation is leaking into the Pacific Ocean from the large concrete dome named ‘The Tomb’, which can be found on nearby Runit Island. Built in the 1970s, the huge dome measuring 3.1m cubic feet has started to show its age with cracks appearing in it. One of the only visible evidence of a nuclear test, ‘The Tomb’ is a 377-feet wide bunker, big enough to fit about 35 Olympic-sized swimming pools of radioactive soil and nuclear waste. It was used by the US to ship waste from Nevada, where it was testing nuclear weapons.
It is currently unclear how much nuclear waste is leaking into the waterways from beneath the dome. Although the marine world is thriving, the area is still considered dangerous for humans. A UN report said that this was irreversible environmental contamination. The atoll was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010 due to the direct concrete evidence of the nuclear tests carried out here.
Before the nuclear bombings, the traditional lifestyle of the Bikini islanders was based on cultivating plants and eating shellfish and fish. The Marshallese people were relatively isolated and developed a tradition-bound society. Now the Bikini Atoll remains deserted except for a small group of caretakers. This is the radiation that the bombs left behind. It gets into everything.