Anthem and Flag

EVERYTHING IS IN THE HANDS OF GOD

No longer can I stay; it's true.
No longer can I live in peace and harmony.
No longer can I rest on my sleeping mat and pillow
Because of my island and the life I once knew there.
The thought is overwhelming
Rendering me helpless and in great despair.
My spirit leaves, drifting around and faraway
Where it becomes caught in a current of immense power.

And only then do I find tranquility.

(Lore Kessibuki)

The Bikini Flag

The 23 white stars are the 23 islands of the Bikini atoll
The 3 black stars are the 3 islands that were vaporised
On 1st March 1954
By the hydrogen bomb
Codenamed Bravo
The 2 black stars are the faraway islands

Where we are now
And the red and white stripes
Are there to remind them
Of what they have done

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One Sunday after church, the Bikini islanders were told by the Americans that they were going to have the opportunity help all mankind.

In 1954 the situation was brought to the attention of the world when 23 Japanese fishermen and their catch of tuna were irradiated. There was outrage in Japan.

Today the Bikinians live 500 miles away from the islands they knew as home for more than 2,000 years.

In 1968 the USA declared Bikini Atoll to be safe and a group of islanders were returned. However they left Bikini Atoll once again in the early 1970's when they were informed of the presence of high levels of Strontium-90.

In 1998 the IAEA reported that anyone living on the islands and eating local produce would receive 15mSv/year (world average 3mSv/year).

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Note for comparison:

Nuclear testing in air released an estimated 740 pBq of cesium-137 into the atmosphere.

Chernobyl accident released an estimated 89 pBq of cesium-137 into the atmosphere.

What this means:

An estimated 2,490 kg of cesium-137 was released into the air from just these two sources.