However, you sort of wonder about all the species that are the "Glow in the dark variety" that live there now of birds and fish etc.
Enewetak
had the lowest radiation levels, at 7.6 mrem/y, which makes sense,
since the island has had extensive cleanup efforts. Rongelap …
The island chain in the
Pacific Ocean used by U.S. military for atomic testing are still too
radioactive for humans to live there safely.
According to Popular Science, a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) found that Bikini Atoll and the Enewetak Islands — collectively known as the northern Marshall Islands — still feature background levels of gamma radiation far higher than scientists predicted when they conducted nuclear weapons tests between 1946 and 1958.
The military tested 67 weapons on the island chain after evacuating
the islands’ 200 or so inhabitants. The relocation of those indigenous
people, however, was never intended to be permanent. Scientists of the
atomic era predicted that levels of background radiation would
eventually fall to a level that would be safe for humans to resettle
there.
Study lead author Autumn Bordner from Columbia University’s Center for Nuclear Studies led a team of researchers that traveled to the islands and measured current radiation levels. Previous estimations of the amount of gamma radiation still lingering on the islands were based on measurements taken decades ago, the study said.
Bordner’s group conducted the only recent study to “report on timely measurements on three different atolls, and also provide detailed fits and simulated maps across several islands, including the islands of Bikini and Rongelap.”
In August of 2015, the team covered more than 1,000 miles over the course of two weeks. They took radiation readings and compared them to control group readings taken at Majuro Atoll in the southern Marshall Islands and readings taken from Central Park in New York City.
Popular Science said, “Central Park and the Majuro Atoll experience 13 and 9 millirems of radiation per year, respectively. Enewetak had the lowest radiation levels, at 7.6 mrem/y, which makes sense, since the island has had extensive cleanup efforts. Rongelap has higher levels at 19.8 mrem/y, and Bikini Atoll has the most radiation of the islands studied, with a mean of 184 mrem/y.”
The authors noted that these measurements are largely unchanged since those taken in the mid-1990s, in spite of two decades’ time to allow radiation levels to decay and fall.
“Our findings suggest that there is significant variation in the levels of external gamma radiation on the islands affected by the US nuclear testing program in the Marshall Islands,” the study found. “Notably, Bikini Island is found to have radiation levels exceeding the agreement promulgated by the US and [Republic of the Marshall Islands] governments for safe habitation of Rongelap. This finding suggests that Bikini Island exceeds this standard and may not be safe for habitation. Islands on Rongelap and Enewetak Atolls are found to have external gamma radiation levels well below the RMI/US standard for safe habitation.”
The team said, however, that without studying how the environment affects humans, it’s not clear whether the level of background radiation poses a threat to inhabitants’ health.
“[W]ithout measuring other exposure pathways, we are not able to make a determination as to whether these islands are indeed safe for habitation,” the team wrote. “There is a population currently living on Enewetak, in some trepidation as to whether or not their environment is safe. In addition, there is currently a large population of displaced Marshallese people who desire to return to Rongelap and Bikini. Given these circumstances, it seems imperative that further steps be taken to analyze additional exposure pathways to make a definitive statement as to whether these islands are safe for habitation.”
Nuclear test islands still too radioactive for humans 60 years later
Image: Mushroom cloud following a nuclear explosion (Shutterstock.com)
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According to Popular Science, a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) found that Bikini Atoll and the Enewetak Islands — collectively known as the northern Marshall Islands — still feature background levels of gamma radiation far higher than scientists predicted when they conducted nuclear weapons tests between 1946 and 1958.
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Study lead author Autumn Bordner from Columbia University’s Center for Nuclear Studies led a team of researchers that traveled to the islands and measured current radiation levels. Previous estimations of the amount of gamma radiation still lingering on the islands were based on measurements taken decades ago, the study said.
Bordner’s group conducted the only recent study to “report on timely measurements on three different atolls, and also provide detailed fits and simulated maps across several islands, including the islands of Bikini and Rongelap.”
In August of 2015, the team covered more than 1,000 miles over the course of two weeks. They took radiation readings and compared them to control group readings taken at Majuro Atoll in the southern Marshall Islands and readings taken from Central Park in New York City.
Popular Science said, “Central Park and the Majuro Atoll experience 13 and 9 millirems of radiation per year, respectively. Enewetak had the lowest radiation levels, at 7.6 mrem/y, which makes sense, since the island has had extensive cleanup efforts. Rongelap has higher levels at 19.8 mrem/y, and Bikini Atoll has the most radiation of the islands studied, with a mean of 184 mrem/y.”
The authors noted that these measurements are largely unchanged since those taken in the mid-1990s, in spite of two decades’ time to allow radiation levels to decay and fall.
“Our findings suggest that there is significant variation in the levels of external gamma radiation on the islands affected by the US nuclear testing program in the Marshall Islands,” the study found. “Notably, Bikini Island is found to have radiation levels exceeding the agreement promulgated by the US and [Republic of the Marshall Islands] governments for safe habitation of Rongelap. This finding suggests that Bikini Island exceeds this standard and may not be safe for habitation. Islands on Rongelap and Enewetak Atolls are found to have external gamma radiation levels well below the RMI/US standard for safe habitation.”
The team said, however, that without studying how the environment affects humans, it’s not clear whether the level of background radiation poses a threat to inhabitants’ health.
“[W]ithout measuring other exposure pathways, we are not able to make a determination as to whether these islands are indeed safe for habitation,” the team wrote. “There is a population currently living on Enewetak, in some trepidation as to whether or not their environment is safe. In addition, there is currently a large population of displaced Marshallese people who desire to return to Rongelap and Bikini. Given these circumstances, it seems imperative that further steps be taken to analyze additional exposure pathways to make a definitive statement as to whether these islands are safe for habitation.”
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