Fallout and resilience
1950s U.S. nuclear testing scarred the Marshall Islands with radiation, trauma and loss. Yet, Marshallese survivors and advocates have shown resilience against the forgetting of this injustice.
“The word “erub” is a Marshallese word that means ‘broken.’ The very foundation of our livelihood, cultural and social relationships, was broken into many pieces – hard to solidify to this very day.” Lijon Eknilang’s speech to Tenth International Women & Health meeting, Delhi, September 2005 (1).
Lijon Eknilang didn’t grow up fearing radiation. Everything changed in 1954, when the United States detonated the Bravo hydrogen bomb near her home on Rogelap Atoll. No one warned her community (1).
Years later, Lijon would speak before the United Nations, recounting her seven miscarriages. A sister with thyroid cancer. Nephews born unable to walk. Once the backbone of their community, the women of Rongelap carry a legacy of displacement and multi‑generational scars.
For Lijon, the devastation tore through the very heart of Marshallese life. Yet she became a voice for the invisible, testifying to the lasting cost of radiation and colonial power long after the bombs fell. This is the price of experiments treating human lives as collateral; Marshallese generations still live with the consequences.
Nuclear testing grounds
The Marshall Islands, a remote chain of coral atolls in the central Pacific, endured a turbulent colonial past. Over centuries, control shifted from Spain to Germany, then Japan until World War II. After the war, the islands were placed under U.S. administration as a United Nations Trust Territory Agreement meant to prepare them for self-governance. Instead, the region became a testing ground for nuclear weapons. Between 1946 and 1958, the U.S. conducted 67 nuclear tests with a combined force of about 7,000 Hiroshima bombs.
One of the most infamous tests, Castle Bravo, took place on March 1, 1954. The explosion was twice as powerful as expected, scattering radioactive fallout over inhabited atolls like Rongelap and Utrik. Residents, including children, received no warning and were evacuated only two days later; they were resettled years after despite lingering contamination. Promised a safe return, communities like Bikini Atoll faced repeated displacement- but a true homecoming never came.
The hidden fallout
One of the most harrowing legacies of the nuclear tests was the invisible danger of radiation. Over time, Marshallese communities experienced sharp increases in thyroid cancer, leukemia, miscarriages and birth defects- affecting not only those exposed but their children and grandchildren.
“The most common birth defects on Rongelap and other atolls in the Marshall Islands have been “jellyfish babies.” These babies are born without bones in their bodies and with transparent skin. We can see their brains and their hearts beating. They have no legs, no arms, no head, no nothing. Some of these things we carry for eight months, nine months. The babies usually live for a day or two before they stop breathing.” Lijon Eknilang, 2003. Source: Learning from Rongelap's Pain (2, 3).
But the fallout extended beyond radiation. Forced relocations uprooted entire communities from ancestral lands, resettling them in unfamiliar, less hospitable atolls with limited resources. Loss of ancestral land- central to Marshallese heritage- damaged their cultural continuity, deepened communal trauma and eroded the very foundations of wellbeing.
Power, consent and dependency
This was more than displacement; it was a slow, systemic erosion of autonomy and self-determination rooted in neo-colonial power. At its core was the absence of informed consent. After Castle Bravo, U.S. Project 4.1 studied radiation effects on the Marshallese people without consent, monitoring them as research subjects. They underwent frequent examinations and blood tests but were never told of their involvement or given the chance to refuse.
This exploitation entrenched dependency. Displaced communities lost self-sufficiency as traditional food systems through fishing, breadfruits and pandanus gave way to imported processed foods, fuelling a rise in diabetes and obesity (4). Import dependency also eroded indigenous skills and community cohesion.
Healthcare dependency deepened as well. Serious conditions linked to radiation such as cancer required off-island treatment in Hawaii or the U.S. mainland, but referrals and funding were limited. While U.S. compensation programs offer some long-term healthcare aid under the Compact of Free Association (COFA), aid remains fragmented and underfunded, lacking a comprehensive restitution framework. For Marshallese families, care often remains a privilege, not a right.
Over time, basic needs- healthcare, nutrition, housing- were tied to U.S. assistance instead of local autonomy, creating neo-colonial dependency rather than recovery. This cycle of paternalism endures today, limiting true Marshallese sovereignty.
Calls for justice
This reliance has spurred generations of Marshallese- advocates, artists, survivors and leaders- to speak out and press the U.S. for accountability. The nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands is not just history- it is a present-day struggle for justice. Among those demanding recognition was Lijon Eknilang, whose powerful testimonies before the United Nations and global health forums gave voice to the scars of nuclear testing.
Today, the Marshall Islands face new challenges from human-induced climate change. Rising seas, saltwater intrusion and more frequent storms threatens health systems and risk displacement of communities again. For many Marshallese, the trauma of nuclear displacement echoes in this slow-moving crisis, driven by emissions they didn’t cause.
Poet and activist Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner, the Marshall Islands’ U.N. climate envoy, has become a leading voice in climate justice. Her spoken word performances link radiation and rising tides, infusing grief with urgency. Through poetry and public advocacy, she has reframed the narrative: not simply one of victimhood, but of resilience and a demand for redress.
“stained rusted our people
creaking brackish from
salt spray and nuclear radiation blasts
so so tired, wandering wondering
if the world will
leave us out to dry in the sun”
Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner, excerpt from her poem “2 Degrees”, 2015. Source: https://www.kathyjetnilkijiner.com/poem-2-degrees/
In the U.S, where tens of thousands of Marshallese now live, diaspora communities drive the push for health equity and justice. Many experience poverty, lack of insurance and exclusion from federal benefits, but advocates successfully fought to restore Medicaid access for COFA migrants in 2020- a significant step towards addressing health disparities.
Despite decades of advocacy, the United States has never issued a formal apology for the Marshall Islands’ nuclear testing. For many Marshallese, this silence compounds the injury, leaving a legacy of denial.
What justice requires today
And so the question remains: what would justice truly look like? Marshallese advocates argue it cannot end with acknowledgements of nuclear fallout or human right abuses like Project 4.1. Instead, they demand long-term commitments- medical infrastructure, environmental remediation, and support for climate adaptation- co-created with communities and guided by their priorities (5).
These calls have already crystallized into Marshallese-led programs that put self-determination into practice. The National Nuclear Commission’s five-pillar strategy embeds atoll representatives in every step of compensation, healthcare expansion and land remediation (5). REACH-MI mobilizes Marshallese youth and elders to conduct soil-and-water testing and share plain-language results with their villages. Jo-Jikum, co-founded by Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner, plants native breadfruit orchards and leads school-based climate workshops. And The Bikini Project uses documentary film and narratives to advocate for nuclear justice for Bikini Atoll.
True justice would mean shifting from paternalism to partnerships built on trust, equity and accountability.
“We have forever been moved around by people who make decisions over us, telling us our lives will be safe and how to live. But no matter what life has thrown at us, from nuclear testing to rising sea levels, our home and life are very much still here.” Alson Kelen, community Marshallese elder who grew up in Bikini Atoll. Source: The Guardian(6).
The Marshall Islands are not an isolated case- they are one among many “sacrifice zones”. From French Polynesia to Algeria (7), communities bear disproportionate risks from military experimentation, extractive industries, and now, climate change. These risks were often justified in the name of scientific progress, economic growth or geopolitical security. But who is being protected, and who is being sacrificed?
Erasure compounds injustice. Marshallese stories are overlooked in science textbooks, Cold War histories, or climate narratives (8). Testimonies, like those of Lijon Eknilang, the poetry of Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner, the reflections from Alson Kelen, insist on remembrance. Silence protects power, not truth.
The bombs may have stopped, but the scars endure. As seas rise and traumas resurface, Marshallese-led movements demand for a holistic vision of health and environmental justice. When history calls you to account, what will your answer be?
Position statement
I write as a London-based editor working in public and global health (views my own), and approach issues in the Global South with a commitment to amplifying diverse voices and perspectives. I recognise my position outside the communities I write about, and approach these histories with humility, curiosity, and respect for the people who lived and shaped them.
I acknowledge that the issue of nuclear fallout and climate justice remain central issues for the Marshallese people today. I respectfully invite Marshallese scholars and community members to share corrections or additional context, so these histories are told accurately and respectfully.
To hear these stories directly, I encourage you to explore the work of Marshallese writers, poets, historians and testimonies, who have, and continue to shape this narrative:
Pacific Women Speak; Women Working for a Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific; 1987; 1-870370-00-7; GWL-2023-49
Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner: https://jkijiner.wordpress.com/
Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner: Dear Matafele Peinam. 2018, https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2018/12-october/features/features/kathy-jet%C3%B1il-kijiner-dear-matafele-peinam
Meet 6 Marshallese women activists who are changing the world. Greenpeace, 24th April 2025. https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/74169/meet-6-marshallese-female-activists-who-are-changing-the-world/
Statement of Rhea Moss-Christian Chairperson of the Marshall Islands National Nuclear Commission. October 21, 2021 https://democrats-naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/doc/Testimony_RheaMossChristian_10.21.21.pdf
Benetick Kabua Maddison, 2023. The Ongoing Consequences of the U.S. Nuclear Testing Program on the Marshall Islands. Heinrich Boll Stiftung. https://www.boell.de/en/2023/10/09/ongoing-consequences-us-nuclear-testing-program-marshall-islands
Evelyn Ralpho, August 2005. Think Outside the Bomb. https://www.wagingpeace.org/think-outside-the-bomb/
References and sources:
National Cancer Institute, 2004, “Estimation of the Baseline Number of Cancers among Marshallese and the Number of Cancers Attributable to Exposure to Fallout from Nuclear Weapons Testing Conducting in the Marshall Islands”, Prepared by the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health and Human Services, Prepared for Senate Committee on Energy and National Resources. https://marshall.csu.edu.au/Marshalls/html/Radiation/NCI-report.pdf
Johnston, B.R., 2015. Nuclear disaster: The Marshall Islands experience and lessons for a post-Fukushima world. In Global Ecologies and the Environmental Humanities (pp. 140-161). Routledge.
Palafox, N.A. and Hixon, A.L., 2011. Health consequences of disparity: the US Affiliated Pacific Islands. Australasian Psychiatry, 19(1_suppl), pp.S84-S89. https://doi.org/10.3109/10398562.2011.58307
McElfish, P.A., Hallgren, E. and Yamada, S., 2015. Effect of US health policies on health care access for Marshallese migrants. American journal of public health, 105(4), pp.637-643. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302452
Gordon-Strachan, G.M., Parker, S.Y., Harewood, H.C., Méndez-Lázaro, P.A., Saketa, S.T., Parchment, K.F., Walawender, M., Abdulkadri, A.O., Beggs, P.J., Buss, D.F. and Chodak, R.J., 2025. The 2024 small island developing states report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change. The Lancet Global Health, 13(1), pp.e146-e166.
Keown, M 2019, ''Give birth to nightmares': The Marshallese nuclear legacy and women’s health in Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner’s ‘Monster’', Moving Worlds, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 141-155.
Marshall Islands calls for US to pay more compensation over nuclear tests. The Guardian, July 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/13/marshall-islands-pacific-us-nuclear-bomb-test-payment
(1) A survivor’s warning on nuclear contamination. Pacific Ecologist. 2006/07. https://pacificecologist.org/archive/13/survivors-nuclear-warning.pdf
(2) Eknilang, Lijon (2003) "Learning from Rongelap's Pain," Seattle Journal for Social Justice: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 60. https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/sjsj/vol2/iss1/60
(3) PACIFIC WOMEN SPEAK OUT FOR INDEPENDENCE AND DENUCLEARISATION 21-26 (Zohl dé Ishtar ed., Raven Press, Christchurch 1999), Joint project of Women’s International League for Peace (Aotearoa), Freedom and Disarmament and Security Centre (New Zealand), and Pacific Connections (Australia).
(4) Pollard, K.J., Davis, C., Davis, B., Donohue, D., Wong, W., Saad, A., Merlo, G. and Pathak, N., 2024. Health disparities and climate change in the Marshall Islands. Annals of Medicine, 56(1), p.2411601. https://doi.org/10.1080/07853890.2024.2411601
(5) The Marshall Islands National Nuclear Commission. NUCLEAR JUSTICE FOR THE MARSHALL ISLANDS: A Strategy for Coordinated Action, FY2020-FY2023. https://rmi-data.sprep.org/system/files/RMI%20NNC%20Strategy%202019.pdf
(6) Endless fallout: the Pacific idyll still facing nuclear blight 77 years on. The Guardian, August 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/25/endless-fallout-marshall-islands-pacific-idyll-still-facing-nuclear-blight-77-years-on
(7) Moruroa Files. 2021. https://moruroa-files.org/en/investigation/moruroa-files
(8) Republic of the Marshall Islands Partnership to Support Foundational Teaching and Learning. 2023, https://ies.ed.gov/learn/blog/republic-marshall-islands-partnership-support-foundational-teaching-and-learning
Thank you for the article. I think sharing those kinds of resources is really powerful and valuable.