The Pacific’s Nuclear Timebomb

The Pacific paradise of Enewetak Atoll harbours a devastating secret – the toxic legacy of American nuclear testing.

Between 1946 and 1958, the US military tested 43 nuclear bombs in the Pacific.

Now a concrete dome – 46cm thick – seals 80,000 cubic meters of radioactive waste on the deserted island of Runit.

But the dome is not working. Rising sea levels threaten to flush a vast stash of highly radioactive plutonium into the Pacific Ocean.

This is not the only fallout – the soldiers who cleaned up the mess and the Marshallese islanders are abandoned by a government refusing any responsibility.

Join the conversation @AJ101East