Aerial photos of Bikini now show the greatest physical scar left over from the nuclear testing period: where there had once been islands and reef there is now a gaping, blue, sea-filled crater a mile wide and ft deep. Back on Kili Island, life for the Bikinians had become a battle for survival. When the circumstances presented themselves, the islanders complained bitterly to any US government official who would listen, reminding these officials about the broken US promise that their people would be taken care of as long as they were away from their homeland.
In , US government agencies finally began considering the possibility of returning the Bikinian people to their islands based on what they knew of radiation levels on Bikini Atoll from the US scientific community. Accordingly, in June of , President Lyndon B Johnson promised the Bikinians living on Kili that they would now be able to return to their islands. The US Atomic Energy Commission, in an effort to assure the islanders that its clean-up efforts were successful, issued a statement that said: "There's virtually no radiation left and we can find no discernible effect on either plant or animal life.
Approximately people resettled Bikini in the early s. By September of , however, the Bikinians' dreams of living on their home islands came to an end. It was then that Trust Territory officials arrived on Bikini to again evacuate the people who were living on the atoll because they had discovered that the radioactive element most prevalent on Bikini, cesium , had travelled through the food chain and into the bodies of the islanders.
US Department of Interior officials called the huge increases in the islanders' levels of cesium "Incredible". Because the cesium has contaminated the land-based food chain, the islanders have not lived on the atoll since the second exodus in There is no radiological danger posed to an individual walking around on the island, and one can live safely on Bikini as long as the food is imported.
The fish on Bikini are safe to eat, and have been for some time. The major concern of the Bikinians is the fear they have for their children, whom they believe would not understand the prohibitions against eating the ripened fruit from the trees or drinking the coconuts, and this has prevented their return.
The Bikinians are now demanding that the US restore their atoll to the way it was prior to the nuclear testing in Though Bikini is not available for the Bikinians to live on, it has not been abandoned. In the early s, when divers and tourism entrepreneurs began showing a keen interest in what Bikini's pristine environment and lagoon had to offer, the local government began to consider opening a resort for tourists.
After much planning and construction, Bikini Atoll opened to visitors in June to provide an economic base for a possible future resettlement of Bikini Atoll.
The two atomic bomb blasts of Operation Crossroads were both about the size of the nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki in Japan. The July 1 Able shot, dropped from a plane, drifted a half-mile off target and sunk only a few of the ships that had been set in an anchored array for the test.
The July 25 Baker shot, which was detonated 90ft beneath the ships, created a huge tidal wave and sent many ships to the bottom of the lagoon. Operation Crossroads left behind what has turned into a goldmine for the people of Bikini: a sunken fleet of some of the world's most historic war vessels. Trust Territory government. Numerous hardships have been faced there, not the least of which was the loss of skills required for self-sustenance.
Located miles south of Bikini, Kili Island is without a sheltered lagoon. Thus for six months of the year, fishing and sailing become futile endeavors. Because of the residual radioactive contamination from the nuclear testing, the majority of the Bikinian population still resides on Kili today. One attempt was made to resettle Bikini in the late 's when President Lyndon B.
Consuming fruits and vegetables grown on the atoll will result in radiation exposure. Interestingly, the fish in the lagoon are now deemed safe to eat. Recent determinations have allowed for some economic opportunity for Bikini islanders who relocated due to the nuclear testing. As the result of a cleanup project undertaken in the s, select types of tourism activities are now allowed in Bikini Atoll such as scuba diving and sport fishing.
The sunken wreckage of the historic warships of that earlier era have proven a popular draw for tourists. This recognizes its international importance in its historical significance and therefore deserving of special protection.
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