Bikini Atoll Test Site, Marshall Islands

Bikini Atoll is a part of Marshall Islands, from the distance it resembles a real tropical paradise. There you can walk along the seaside, look at slim palms and fell the atmosphere of isolation. However, the surface beauty and safety of these isolated islands are rather deceptive. The Atoll is the very dangerous place because of the high level of radiation. For a number of years, the USA used Bikini Atoll for nuclear tests.

When the nuclear experiments have begun the locals still lived there. Within the shortest possible time, more than a thousand people died from different decreases. People who were quickly evacuated from this place after the nuclear poison also died. The most known test that was made there was in 1954. The Castle Bravo bomb which power is 15 megatons was exploded. About 100 kilometres of the ground was polluted with radiation. People who lived on the nearby Rongelap and Ailinginae Attols also suffered from this test.

At that time there lived about 100 people, however, the tragedy has much larger afterwards. About 850 fishing boats were in the killing zone. Total member of the crew was more than 20 000 people. The most destroyed cargo was Daigo Fukuryū Maru, there has appeared a layer of radioactive dust 1 cm thick. All fishermen who got alive in the poisoned zone got disability for the whole life. Most of them die within several years after the tragedy. This made Bikini Atoll known to the whole world. However, a lot of fans of extreme vacation still visit this place. Next - Alamogordo Test Site