Micronesia goesit alone
}
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7+ s
:.Bikinians paying price for.
we
Ft eee te
3
Mex Sta!Correspondent
nuclear testing”°
.
Sess than half a square mile of land with’ turn, even thongh éestroction of part of
* Maforo, Marshal) Islands—“One of the
waddest stories fm the qorld,” a Guam
mewspaper has called it.
E
It is the story of the people ofBikini Is-"
. Who were pemowed frcen their homes
@o that the United States could wee their
BO lagoon.
the reef had permitted sharks to enter the
and the Bikinian fishermen had to encoun.
Were too radioactive to be eaten safely.
There were no enough eocoputs on Kili
{ ter the crashing waves of the ocean, In the
{ _Spring the surf was particularly rough:
©; two fishermen lost their lives To make
fagoon and scientists warped that erabs
in the early 1970's, several families, totaling about 100 persons, returned to BikiBi. It was ietended that the others would
Western Pacific atoll for testing notlear
| @ombs, were shunted from eve unsatisiac-
{ Matters worse the population expanded,
f eventually tripling.
‘
-
gears, finally were told that they could
Trust territory government ships be.
§=——_ficient Bikinians became more and more
follow ence additional bousing could be
Buill and adequate food supplies assured.
+ gan bringing ip food, and the once self-suf.
Marshallese politicians began to woice sus-
gor the peor
peopleee
allthese 30 ‘Linjan
gears Blencty,
Compensation to the
108
ways’; #06
PeTObeverysixmonth
s Bikiniane
=,
Sine people art aothaps” And thereis': |: beBikinians, Me. Balos says, “are ibe
ao batpyending in sightforthis sadstory. - Reeetl ora ceeee
SfaNer
Congress
ofMi
A omthe
ESVee
nee
Gir diSectiy east of Bika ieeeda
be had been trying to attract atiention toa
tory resetilement site to another for
aaely returo to Bikini and pow have been
Thed some of the Bikinian leaders and
_PICionS that Bikini might pot be safe after
Te. } dependent on these supplies.
oo raul
nas
sland tars
isoning them.
i. *In 1954, the United States began prov. -Sut#! Bales, Henchi Balos’s encle, a
1 Aetually, the Bikini people's history of
-,
i: 1946,wheo US officials decided to use
fhe ato] in which their island bs situated
) for atomicbomb tests. The 187 residents
¢ qere aot coumulted on this decision, but
+ eas Cutlawed all atmospheric auclear
Jn 1954, during the test of a 16-megaton
.
Ee.
‘
nee
bermonoclear bomb at Bikini, the wind
dn 1969, the federal agency then called “shifted, carrying clouds over Roogelap
Ba eedeclared anddepositing a potentially Jethal dose of
Bomb tests in Bikini ended in 1958. disturbing situation there, @ slory even
a
wobappy wandering begins 32 years age,' Five gears later the puclear éest-ban sadder than that of the Bikinians.
_ were
simply ordered to board ships and.
We farce
rete
-Bikim
* Then the United States, which had tak->
3
’
‘achieved formal control through a
.rn
Uinited Naticcs-mandated
“stratesic trus_
pesstip” proceeded to detonate bombs
Tekinbantwgeateection
people.
a0, the island was bulldozed and debris
m the island chains of the territory called ‘
Micronesia from Japan in World War 1
saie forresetilement by
To prepare for the return of the Bikini.
afdold coconut trees removed to reduce
radioactivefallout on its 86 inhabitants.
The Rongelapese were evacuated after
a Sew days and taken to Kwajalein for
treatmen!. Then they came to Majuro, the
Tadiation Forty bomes were constructed Marshall Islands district center, for two.
«800 thousands of new coconut trees were years. In 1957, the Atomic Energy Com-
planted.
About $3 million wasspent .. : gnission prooounced Rongelap eafe dor
Many of the people were eager to
See BIEINI, AS,
Col. 3
BEST AVAILABLE COPY
or took on mutant forms. Three oth-
rn
2; landsfoBika!AtlGisappeared
pasos
|eam |) US DOE ARcHINEs Corntinvt
SWOT”
gmblunders, meanwhile,weredepo|
Gasin there were shortages of both
>” 396 U.8. ATOMIC ENERGY
RGCUCOMMISSION.
chey weretaker. to Beamp™ ICoiectton DOStbear Files
isolated istand, pot part
Box
13
Fob
i326
g. From having been masters af 6 & Iroider Marshal! JSslavd$
pe aes earner a
Tiga Dees 17 7¥
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