Blown to Hell: The Health Legacies of US Nuclear Testing in the Marshall Islands

Abstract

From 1946 to 1958 the Marshall Islands was home to extensive US nuclear testing, testing that left behind an extensive health legacy. This paper examines the initial responses to the testing to see how they influenced a legacy that has spanned decades and identifies the indirect and long lasting health consequences and why they appeared. Just as crucial as to why and how these health consequences have affected the Marshallese people, is who has taken responsibility since. Focusing on the 1980s to the 2000s, this paper examines the significance of the responses, or lack thereof, from the United States and how it has contributed to the health legacies of the Marshall Islands.