Nuclear Testing On The Marshall Islands: 1946-1958: A Summary

In the article U.S Nuclear Testing on the Marshall Islands: 1946-1958, Kim Scoog analyzes the effects of nuclear bombs on the Marshall Islands and its inhabitants. She also empathizes the ethic concerns about the United States reaction to the nuclear testing. Specifically, the US had dropped 67 nuclear weapons that are 7,200 times more bigger and caused way more lethal damage than the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. After these bombs have been dropped, Marshall Island and its inhabitants suffered from a wide range of long term effects. These include 1/7th risk of dying from cancer, rheumic heart disease, nausea and vomiting immediately after and radiation in lethal doses and everything had been contaminated with radioactive materials. Before the
The US response towards the situation raised ethic concerns. First, the US purposefully covered data on experimental studies of the effects on humans regarding the nuclear bomb incident. Second, the US did not effectively inform the Marshall inhabitants of the dangers of nuclear testing. On top of that, the US didn’t believe these people can understand the consequences of nuclear testing. “It seems that the US government’s efforts are reactive than proactive” because of the risks that these nuclear explosion pose. Third, the US government appear to act without thinking about the safety precautions among its people. They were not aware of the dangers of nuclear testing on Marshall’s inhabitants. Finally, even though that the US may be concerned of the negative effects of the nuclear explosions on its inhabitants, they are not trying hard enough to restore the conditions of their lives to how was it before the bombing. The United States then agreed after 60 years, in 1996 to end all nuclear testing through the Comprehensive Test Ban