In the 1940s and ’50s, the US government used Bikini Atoll, in the Pacific nation of the Marshall Islands, for testing nuclear weapons. Recognizing the damage its testing caused, the US government established two trust funds in the 1980s to help pay for Bikinians’ health care, build housing, and cover living costs. In 2017, after a campaign by Bikini leaders for greater autonomy, the Trump administration announced that the government would lift withdrawal limits and stop auditing the main fund, then worth $59 million. Six years later, only about $100,000 remains, and the Bikini community is in crisis.
The golden sand of Bikini Atoll is laced with plutonium. The freshwater is poisoned with strontium. The coconut crabs contain hazardous levels of cesium.
The Trump administration lifted spending limits on the fund, which aids descendants of people forced to leave the coral reef because of U.S. nuclear testing.