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Published on
26.05.2019 at 04:54
by
AFP
At the time of the nuclear explosions, the May 1958 American "Cactus" bombshell was relatively small – but it left a lasting legacy in the Marshall Islands in a domed radioactive discharge.
The dome – described by UN chief Antonio Guterres as "a sort of coffin" – was built two decades after the explosion in the Pacific Ocean region.
The US military filled the crater with radioactive waste on the island of Runit, covered it with concrete and told displaced residents of the remote Enewetak atoll in the Pacific that they could return at home safely.
But the 45 cm (18 inch) thick concrete dome of Runit has now developed cracks.
And since the 115-meter-wide crater has never been covered, it is feared that radioactive contaminants will enter the ocean through the porous coral rocks of the island.
Concerns have intensified in the face of climate change. Rising seas, encroaching on the lowland nation, threatens to undermine the structural integrity of the dome.
Jack Ading, who represents the region in the Marshalls' parliament, describes the dome as "monstrosity".
"It contains radioactive contaminants, including plutonium 239, one of the most toxic substances known to man," he told AFP.
"The coffin lets escape its poison into the environment. And to make matters worse, we are told not to worry about this leak, because the radioactivity outside the dome is at least as bad as the radioactivity inside.
– "Stunning" challenges –
The dome became a symbol of the mess left by the US nuclear test program in the Marshall Islands when 67 bombs exploded between 1947-1958 on the Enewetak and Bikini atolls.
Many islanders have been forcibly evacuated from ancestral lands and resettled, including residents of Enewetak. Thousands of other islanders have been exposed to radioactive fallout and have suffered health problems.
The inhabitants of Enewetak were allowed to return home in 1980 and about 800 islanders now live in the southern part of the atoll, 20 kilometers from Runit.
After the withdrawal of the US military, the Marshall Islands government officially accepted a "comprehensive and definitive" settlement covering the impact of nuclear testing.
But it has long been complained that the compensation paid by Washington is insufficient and the United Nations has described "a legacy of mistrust" towards the United States.
UN Secretary-General Guterres raised the issue earlier this month after meeting Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine in Fiji, where they discussed the issue. nuclear heritage and the prospect of radioactive leaks from Runit Dome.
"The Pacific has been a victim in the past, as we all know … the consequences have been dramatic in terms of health and water poisoning in some areas," he said.
Marshall's Foreign Affairs Minister John Silk said he enjoyed Guterres wearing the Runit Dome to the attention of the world with these comments.
"We are delighted that the Secretary-General has made these statements, because it seems so often that the international community is forgetting these ongoing legacy issues that continue to affect our people," he said.
– uncertain future –
Rhea Moss-Christian, who chairs the Marshall Islands National Nuclear Commission, said the country "needs the support of the international community to face the enormous health and environmental challenges in the world. The pacific".
The consequences of dome failure are unclear.
An inspection commissioned by the US government in 2013 suggested that the radioactive fallout in the sediments of the Enewetak lagoon was already so significant that a catastrophic failure would not necessarily result in an increase in the dose of radiation for the inhabitants.
Silk, noting the US government's commitment to continuously monitor the dome, said an independent badessment of the structure's status "would be useful".
But Ading said the situation was "a constant source of concern for the inhabitants of Enewetak".
"We pray that the Runit dome will not become our coffin," he said.
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