Bikini Atomic Experiments - Aftermath

Aftermath

Shortly after the announcement that the islands were safe, a group of the native people left their makeshift home to return to Bikini, but were evacuated ten years later after some developed radiation poisoning from Cesium-137, including thyroid cancer, (some sources also state Strontium-90), a remnant of the radioactive fallout. As of 2009, the islands remain uninhabitable, and many of the displaced natives now reside in the Carolines and Marshall Islands in the Western Pacific; also some live in California, and in Nevada. The US Department of Energy, along with the representatives from the government of the Marshall Islands, sends scientists to the atoll for temporary stays to study the island's environment and measure residual levels of radiation. The researchers grow a small vegetable garden and send the produce to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for testing. The US and Marshall Islands' governments still advise that nothing harvested from the island be eaten.