Nuclear Bomb Testing and It's Impact on Birth Outcomes in the Marshal Islands

The impact of nuclear testing on the newborns of Marshal Islands


During World War II, the United States drove the Japanese out of the Marshal Islands in order to set up airfare bases for future military battles in the Pacific Theatre.  The islands were heavily bombed in 1934-1944.  Following this, the Marshall Islands were put under the care of the United States.  One of the first things, the United Sates decided to do was to use the islands to test nuclear bombs.

They began testing in 1946, dropping 23 nuclear bombs and conducting 67 tests.

Through religious messaging, they convinced the residents of Bakini Atol to leave their island so the United States could conduct nuclear testing.  They were told they could return after the tests.

However, the bombs were 1,000 times more powerful than Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.  It created a four mile firewall with heavy winds and thunder. The radiation covered the surrounding islands and people for years to come, impacting pregnant women and their newborns.

Babies were born with many birth defects.   The United States never fully acknowledged the harm done to the people of the Marshal Islands.

Atom Bomb testing in the Marshal islands.  It was the same as dropping the Hiroshima Bomb every day for 12 years.  It took many years for the United States to agree to testing and that the islands were not safe to live on.  Perhaps it is the US policy that if you don't test, an illness does not exist and therefore no actions needed.

 It is painfully hard to reconcile the cruelty of this atomic testing.  And yet, we must.  It is part of our history and every day in history contains within its arms, the birth of the next generation.  As Henry Kissinger said, "Who gives a damn?"