Guardian Weekly

Bombed out The island idyll where atomic tests reverberate

At first glance, the aqua marine waters that surround the Marshall Islands seem like paradise. But this idyllic Pacific scene hides a dark secret: it was the location of 23 nuclear detonations as part of US military tests during the cold war between 1946 and 1958.

The bombs were exploded above ground and underwater on Bikini and Enewetak Atolls, including one device 1,100 times larger than the Hiroshima atom bomb. Chornobyl-like levels of radiation forced hundreds from their homes. Bikini Atoll remains deserted. At the US government’s urging,

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