Enewetak

Enewetak, also known as Eniwetok and Eniwetak, atoll in the northwestern Marshall Islands, in the northern Pacific Ocean. The Enewetak Atoll is situated east of the Federated States of Micronesia and is part of one of the world’s longest atoll chains, the Ralik Chain. The atoll, circular in shape, comprises 40 islets surrounding a lagoon 40 km (25 mi) wide.

Enewetak Atoll was under Japanese control from 1914 to 1944, when it was occupied by United States forces and became a U.S. naval base. The atoll was administered by the United States as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from 1947 to 1986. In 1947 the U.S. government designated Enewetak as a testing ground for nuclear weapons and evacuated its residents. The tests began in 1948 and continued until 1958. The atoll was the test site for the first hydrogen bomb in 1952.

In the late 1970s the U.S. government attempted to decontaminate Enewetak Atoll, and former residents were allowed to return in 1980. Crops proved to be contaminated even after the top layers of soil were removed, however, and residents were again relocated. In May 2000 the Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal, created by an agreement with the United States government in 1983, awarded $341 million in compensation to the former Enewetak residents. The actual payments, however, required approval by the U.S. Congress.