Wersgail -1970s, but they were moved off again in RELEASE DATE: JUNE 10, 1980 by Jonathan M. Weisgall On July 16, 1945, the United States detonated the world’s first atomic bomb at Ala- mogordo, New Mexico. Three weeks later it detonated the second over Hiroshima, killing 60,175 people within 120 seconds. Three days later, on August 9, 40.000 people died in the explosion of the third bomb over Na- gaSaki. Horrified by the power of the atomic bomb, Japan announced its surrender to the United States five days later. The atomic age had begun. The United States enjoyed a brief monopoly on atomic weapons technology after World War II, bur it had little knowledge of the force and effect of these weapons. To acquire that knowledge, the United States conducted 66 nuclear tests over the next two de- cades On Bikini and Enewetak atolls. circular chains of islands located in the Marshall Islands region of Micronesia, 2.400 miles southwest of Hawaii. The U.S. military administration moved the Bikinians off their atoll in 1946, and the government promised to take care of them until they could return. One year later the United Srates signed the U.N. Trusteeship Agreement for Micronesia, under which it agreed to ‘‘protect the inhabitants against the loss of their land and resources [and] protect the health of the inhabitants.” Thirty-three years later most of the BiKinians are still living temporarily on a tiny island 400 miles away. During these years American scientists have surveyed Bikini at least 16 times, and in 1968 President Johnson declared Bikini Island—the principal island in the atoll—safe for resettlement. Some Bikinians were moved back in the early JONATHAN M. WEISGALL. an attorney uth the Washington, D.C., law firm of Ginsburg. Feldman, Weil and Bress, is counsel to the people of Bikini. 1978 when tests showed that they had been exposed to dangerously high levels of radiation. U.S. scientists have now concluded that radiation levels on Bikini Island are so high that it will be uninhabitable for at least 60 to 80 years. The Bikinians’ bizarre odyssey has taken a new turn in light of President Carter's declaration that the United Scates intends to end its U.N. trusteeship administration of Micronesia in 1981. Although they are geographically and culturally Marshallese. the Bikinians effectively, have become wards of the United States. and the long-range problems they face are monumental. W! re can they resetcle until Bikini Islandissat. ‘What risks were they exposed to while 1. Bikini from 1970 to 1978. anc wh. of specialized health care will they < to need? What will happen to ther Marshall Islands become independe: Timeis running out onthe U.S. : tration of Micronesia, and the Bikiz zg on <xinds ‘tinue f the away from its responsibility towar. and ics promise to return them tothetr nem me- fearful thar the United States wi Summer 1980 ~ valk land. They have presented the Carter a. uin- istration with a proposal to resettle on i radiologically safe island in Bikimi Atoll]. and they have sought the help of Congress to insure that they are not forgotten. The island- ers’ fears are justified. for the history of their relations with the U.S. government is one of neglect, thwarted hopes. and unkept promises. Bikini Was It At the close of World War II, the United States needed to assess the ful! potential of its new atomic weapon that so dramatically and spectacularly had ended the war with Japan. As the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) stated in its 1948 report to Congress: “America’s pre-eminence in the field of atomic weaponsis not static. It depends upon achievement fully proved through tests and upon the observation by scientists of nuclear phenomena that can only adequately be 75. - FOREIGN POLICY magazine #39 iutnis5 are