Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll (also known as Pikinni Atoll) is an uninhabited 6.0 square kilometer atoll in one of the Micronesian Islands in the Pacific Ocean at 11°30' N 165°25' E. It is a member of the Marshall Islands. It consists of 36 islands surrounding a 594.2 square kilometer lagoon. It was a test site of more than 20 hydrogen and atomic bombs between 1946 to 1958.
Preceding the nuclear tests, the indigenous population was relocated to Rongerik Atoll. The tests began in July 1946.
On May 21, 1956 Bikini Atoll was nearly obliterated by the first airborne explosion of a hydrogen bomb.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, some of the original islanders returned from Kili Island but were removed because of the high radioactivity. In the 1990s, the United States Congress provided $90 million to help decontaminate and repopulate the island. In 2004 soil samples from Sagami Bay near Tokyo, Japan, were found to contain contamination from the Bikini Atoll tests [1] (http://www.zhb.gov.cn/english/chanel-1/detail-1.php3?chanel=1&column=a&id=9561).
Bikini Atoll is also the source of the name of the Bikini swimsuit, but it should be noted that the name of the atoll is pronounced with stress on the first syllable.
External links
- A Short History of the People of Bikini Atoll (http://www.bikiniatoll.com/)
- Department of Energy Marshall Islands Program (http://www.eh.doe.gov/health/marshall/marshall.htm) : Chronology of nuclear testing, relocation of islanders and results of radiation tests.
de:Bikini-Atoll fr:Bikini ja:ビキニ環礁 no:Bikiniatollen pl:Bikini zh:比基尼岛