2. Timeline of Nuclear Weapon Development, Policy and Use 1945 1945  Start of plutonium separation at Hanford.  Start of operation in the gaseous diffusion plant using a supply of poorly enriched uranium to Calutron.  Development of teflon as a sealant.  Low altitude incendiary bombing of Japan proposed by C.LeMay, Commander of B-29 bombers corps.

4.  Transport of plutonium239 from Hanford to Los Alamos as nitric acid solution.  Implosion lens completed by G. Kistiakowsky.  Leaders of Manhattan Project including Groves, Office of Scientific Research and Development section head and Harvard President James Bryant Conant, Hans Bethe, George Kitiakowsky and Richard Tolman met in Oppenheimer's office and decided tentatively to develop the lensed, solid-core Christy implosion design as a combat weapon.

6.  Over the course of six years, ranging from 1939 to 1945, more than 2 billion dollars were spent on the Manhattan Project. The formulas for refining Uranium and putting together a working bomb were created and seen to their logical ends by some of the greatest minds of our time. Among these people who unleashed the power of the atomic bomb was J. Robert Oppenheimer.  Oppenheimer was the major force behind the Manhattan Project. He literally ran the show and saw to it that all of the great minds working on this project made their brainstorms work. He oversaw the entire project from its conception to its completion.

7. J. Robert Oppenheimer

8.  Casting of a warhead for uranium235 bomb.  Plutonium core arrives at Alamogordo  Explosive assembly arrival at Alamogordo.  Plans made to drop bombs on Japan

9.  Finally the day came when all at Los Alamos would find out whether or not The Gadget was either going to be the colossal dud of the century or perhaps end the war. It all came down to a fateful morning of midsummer, 1945.  At 5:29:45 (Mountain War Time) on July 16th, 1945, in a white blaze that stretched from the basin of the Jemez Mountains in northern New Mexico to the still- dark skies, The Gadget ushered in the Atomic Age.  The light of the explosion then turned orange as the atomic fireball began shooting upwards at 360 feet per second, reddening and pulsing as it cooled.  The characteristic mushroom cloud of radioactive vapor materialized at 30,000 feet. Beneath the cloud, all that remained of the soil at the blast site were fragments of jade green radioactive glass....All of this caused by the heat of the reaction.

10. Impact on Japan and the Civilian Population

11.  Hiroshima, vicinity of ground zero. The ruined dome, now known as the Atomic Bomb Dome, has been left standing as a memorial. It is 160 meters from ground zero, near the bare trees to the left of the dome.

12.  Bombing Hiroshima with Little Boy by Paul W. Tibbets, Robert Lewis, Thomas Ferebee, William S. Parsons, Morris Jeppson, and others, at 08:16:  Explosion equivalent to 12.5 kilotons of TNT from 60 kg uranium235.  Bomb's gross weigh was 4 tons. 140,000 civilian citizens were killed.  Hibakusya (survivors) more than 300,000.Physical illnesses due to radiation exposure, short term and long term effects.

13. Fireball and Mushroom Over Nagasaki

14.  Bombing Nagasaki with Fat Man by Charles W.Sweeney, Frederick L.Ashworth, and others.  Target changed from Kokura to Nagasaki because of poor visibility.  Time 11:02:00. Explosion equivalent to 22 kilotons of TNT, using 8 kg plutonium 239.  Bomb's gross weight 4.5 tons. 70,000 civilian citizens were killed.

15. Aerial View of Nagasaki Mushroom Cloud

16. Byproducts of atomic detonations Byproducts of atomic detonations  While the mere explosion from an atomic bomb is deadly enough, its destructive ability doesn't stop there.  Atomic fallout creates another hazard as well. The rain that follows any atomic detonation is laden with radioactive particles.  Many survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki blasts succumbed to radiation poisoning due to this occurrence.  The atomic detonation also has the hidden lethal surprise of affecting the future generations of those who live through it. Leukemia is among the greatest of afflictions that are passed on to the offspring of survivors.

17. Victims

18. 1946 1946  The Crossroads Series tests. The purpose of the tests was to examine the effects of nuclear explosions on naval vessels, planes, and animals.  A fleet of surplus and captured ships anchored in the Bikini Atoll lagoon in the Marshall Islands were used as targets.  The weapons used were Mk 3A ("Model 1561") Fatman-type atomic bombs, essentially unmodified from the wartime designs.  Test ABLE at 22:00 30 June 1946, height of burst 160 m. Dropped by B-29 "Dave's Dream", Fell 980 ft short and 1870 ft left of target.  Test BAKER at 21:35 24 July 1946, Mk 3A fission bomb (23 Kt) sub-surface test, depth of burst 27.5 m. Wall of intensely radioactive spray contaminates target fleet.

19. 1947 1947  Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) created. In charge of development of nuclear weapons, replacing Manhattan Engineering District (MED). 1948 1948  Nuclear tests at Eniwetok atoll in Marshall Islands  World Conference of Intellectuals against Application to Military Use of Science met in Poland. Issued warning about the risk of nuclear war.

20. 1949 1949  Recommendation by J.R. Oppenheimer and J. Manley against development of H-bomb. 1952 1952  Lawrence Livermore Laboratories established in Livermore, California, for production of H-bomb.  The first H-bomb explosion: 10.4 MT, 700 times power of Little Boy, gross weight 65 tons. Elugelap island in Eniwetok disappeared. Two new elements, einsteinium(99) and fermium(100) were discovered in the fallout.

21. 1954 1954  Dry, deliverable H-bomb test, code named Bravo, created by members of Livermore Laboratories, on the island of Bikini near the Marshall islands  The explosion created a 240 ft. deep and 6,000 ft. wide crater. The bomb was created to produce as much fallout as possible.  A Japanese fishing boat was located about 100 miles from the island. Two weeks later all 23 crew members were suffering radiation sickness.  One of them, Aikichi Kuboyama, died of liver and blood damage (hepatitis) on Sept.23, 1954.  People in Rongelap and Utirik still have not been compensated adequately. They and others have asked the question: Did the U.S. government use the native people as guinea pigs, causing the malignancies (thyroid cancer and leukemia) and reproductive problems.

22. Above: The March 1, 1954 Bravo hydrogen bomb crater. Photo © Hiro Toyosaki

23. 1955 1955  The First World Conference Against A- H Bomb in Hiroshima. 1957 1957  H-bomb test successful at Christmas Island. (England)  Underground nuclear test in Nevada. An idea by E. Teller suggested by artificial earthquake experiment.

25. 1962 1962  SLBM with nuclear warhead launching test at Christmas island from a Polaris A-2 submarine.  High altitude nuclear test, 400 km high Johnston island of a 1.4MT H-bomb.  A large power loss in Oahu island, Hawaii, due to malfunction of electric supply control device caused by electromagnetic pulse wave emitted during bombardment of ionosphere by X-ray and gamma-ray of nuclear explosion.  This nuclear explosion destroyed multiple communication systems.

26. 1995 1995  [France] Nuclear tests in Mururoa atoll under commander Gen. Paul Verice.  The blast was designed to test software so France can conduct future tests in computers, without actual detonations.  In a tunnel bored 1,800 to 3,000 feet below the surface. The blast equaled less than 20,000 tons of TNT.  In all, France conducted 204 nuclear tests, 17 of them in the 1960s in the Sahara Desert and the remainder in French Polynesia.

27. 1996 1996  Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty: Multilateral agreement signed by the US, Russia, UK, and 90 non-nuclear- weapon states would ban any and all nuclear tests, big or small, above and below the Earth's surface.  It established a worldwide monitoring system--including 170 seismic stations- -to check air, water and soil for signals that someone set off a nuclear explosion. Not effective because nuclear state India refused to sign the treaty.

28. 1997 1997  Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-free Zone Treaty(Bankok Treaty) enters into force. The entire south hemisphere is nuclear weapon-free. Not all nuclear nations agree  subcritical nuclear weapon experiment: Nevada  1997 [Russia] subcritical nuclear weapon experiments in 1996 and 1997 reported

29. 1998 1998  [India]Nuclear tests in Pokaran, Rajasthan. Two atomic bombs and one hydrogen bomb. Insisting Pakistan threat and protesting against the present NPT and CTBT regime.  [India]Another nuclear test. Obtaining data for subcritical nuclear weapon experiment.  [Pakistan]Nuclear tests in Baluchistan. 5 tests. Insisting Indian nuclear threat.  [Pakistan]Additional tests for missile war head.  [Russia]subcritical nuclear weapon experiments for checking quality of plutonium of nuclear weapons. Further 5 tests from August to December, 1998.  subcritical nuclear weapon experiment: Nevada. Feb. 9, 1999 6th test. Sept. 30,1999 7th test.

30. 1999 1999  [U.S.A.] 8th subcritical nuclear weapon experiment. 2000 2000  [U.S.A.] 8 subcritical nuclear weapon experiment.  [Russia] subcritical nuclear weapon experiment. 7 times after 1999

31.  2002 [U.S.A.]Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), released by US Department of Defense. US, rather than fulfilling its commitment under the Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has reasserted the centrality of nuclear weapons to its national defense policy.  US intends not only to maintain thousands of nuclear warheads well into the middle of this century, but also to modernize its nuclear forces by adding new types of warheads that will eventually require a resumption of nuclear testing.

32.  2002 [U.S.A.] U.S. nuclear plan sees new targets and weapons for striking targets in Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Syria and Libya;  stresses need to develop earth- penetrating nuclear weapons to destroy heavily fortified underground bunkers.  It argues that US may need to resume nuclear testing.

33. 2003 2003  [U.S.A.] Senate Armed Services Committee completes markup of national defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2004.  Authorized a provision to repeal the ban on research and development of low yield nuclear weapons  Authorized a provision to require the Secretary of Energy to achieve and maintain the ability to conduct an underground nuclear test within 18 months, should it become necessary for the President to order such a test.  Authorized $21.0 million for the advance concepts initiative, of which $15.0 million is directed to continue the feasibility study on the robust nuclear earth penetrator.

34.  20th subcritical nuclear weapons experiment named "Piano" at the experimental institution in Nevada.  [Russia] The new military doctrine published: Employing preemptive nuclear attack and tactical nuclear weapons.

35. Focus on the Pacific  The Marshall Islands

38. May 1946 July Operation Crossroads is launched with "Able" and "Baker" nuclear tests at Bikini. Both are Hiroshima-size atomic tests. "Baker", an underwater test, contaminates target fleet of World War II ships in Bikini's lagoon. May 1946 July Operation Crossroads is launched with "Able" and "Baker" nuclear tests at Bikini. Both are Hiroshima-size atomic tests. "Baker", an underwater test, contaminates target fleet of World War II ships in Bikini's lagoon.

39. 1947 1947 July - The Marshall Islands and the rest of Micronesia became a United Nations strategic Trust Territory administered by the United States. Among other obligations, the U.S. undertakes to "protect the inhabitants against the loss of their lands and resources." Among other obligations, the U.S. undertakes to "protect the inhabitants against the loss of their lands and resources." December Enewetak Atoll is selected for the second series of U.S. nuclear tests, and the Enewetak people are quickly moved to Ujelang Atoll. In 1947, the Marshall Islands becomes a United Nations strategic Trust Territory administered by the United States. Among other obligations, the U.S. undertakes to "protect the inhabitants against the loss of their lands and resources."

40. 1948 1948  March - On the verge of starvation, the Bikinians are taken off Rongerik Atoll and moved to Kwajalein, where they stay for six months while a new home is found for them.  April Operation Sandstone begins at Enewetak and includes three atomic tests. The Bikini community moves to southern Kill, a single island with no protected lagoon or anchorage.

41. 1951 1951  April - Operation Greenhouse starts at Enewetak. Four atomic tests are conducted 1952 1952  November - Operation Ivy opens at Enewetak and includes the first test of a hydrogen device. The Mike test vaporizes one island and is estimated at 10.4 megatons, or some 750 times larger than the Hiroshima bomb.

42. 1954 1954  January - Preparations commence at Bikini Atoll for Operation Castle, to test a series of megaton range weapons, including America's first deliverable hydrogen bomb.  February 28 - 6 p.m. On the eve of the Bravo test, weather reports indicate that atmospheric "conditions were getting less favorable." At midnight, just seven hours from the shot, the weather report reports there are "less favorable winds at 10,000 to 25,000-foot levels." Winds at 20,000 feet "were headed for Rongelap to the east."

43.  March 1 - Bikini's weather outlook downgraded to "unfavorable" and Joint Task Force 7 directs several ships to move 20 miles to the south to remove them from the expected fallout zone.  Despite weather reports showing that winds are blowing in the direction of inhabited islands, the March 1 Bravo hydrogen bomb test is detonated at Bikini.  At 15 megatons, it is 1,000 times the strength of the Hiroshima bomb.  Within hours a gritty, white ash is enveloping islanders on Rongelap and Ailinginae Atolls.  A few hours later, American weathermen are exposed to the snowstorm of fallout on Rongerik, and still later the people of Utrik and other islands experience the fallout "mist".

44.  Those exposed experience nausea, vomiting and itching skin and eyes. March 3 Rongelap islanders are evacuated 48 hours later, and Utrik is evacuated 72 hours after Bravo.  Both groups are taken to Kwajalein for observation. Skin burns on the heavily exposed people begin to develop, and later their hair falls out.  The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission issues a statement to the press calling Bravo a "routine atomic test", and stating that some Americans and Marshallese were "unexpectedly exposed to some radioactivity. There were no burns. All were reported well."

45.  March 7 - Project 4.1, "Study of Response of Human Beings Exposed to Significant Beta and Gamma Radiation due to Fallout from High Yield Weapons," establishes a secret medical group to monitor and evaluate the Rongelap and Utrik people.  May - Utrik Islanders allowed to return home because, according to U.S. officials, "Their island was only slightly contaminated and considered safe for habitation."

46. 1956 1956  May - Operation Redwing begins at Enewetak and Bikini.  A total of 17 nuclear tests, including several hydrogen bombs, are detonated.  November U.S. officials give the Enewetak Islanders living on Ujelang $25,000 cash and a $150,000 trust fund (earning 3 1/3 percent annually) as compensation. Bikini Islanders living on Kili are given $25,000 cash and a $300,000 trust fund (yielding about $15 per person annually).  Throughout the 1950s, both the Bikinians and Enewetakese face food shortages and repeated bouts of near starvation, as their "temporary" islands prove difficult and inhospitable.

47. 1957 1957  July - Rongelap is declared safe for rehabilitation "in spite of slight lingering radiation."  The Rongelap people, who have been living temporarily in Ejit Island, Majuro, return to Rongelap.  Brookhaven National Laboratory scientists report about Rongelap: "Even though the radioactive contamination of Rongelap Island is considered perfectly safe for human habitation, the levels of activity are higher than those found in other inhabited locations in the world. The habitation of these people on the island will afford most valuable ecological radiation data on human beings."

48. 1958 1958  May - Operation Hardtack begins at Enewetak and Bikini, with 32 tests, including several hydrogen bombs. August The last nuclear detonation in the Marshall Islands takes place on August 18, bringing to 66 the total of nuclear weapons tests at Bikini and Enewetak.

49. 1963 1963  The first thyroid tumors begin appearing among the Rongelap people exposed to the Bravo test in 1954.  Also, a higher than normal incidence of growth retardation among young Rongelap Islanders is noted by U.S. doctors.

50. 1966 1966  January - The U.S. Congress approves a payment of $950,000 (about $11,000 per capita) to the exposed Rongelap people for injuries resulting from their exposure in 1954. 1969 1969  October - Bikini Atoll is declared safe for rehabilitation by U.S. officials. "There's virtually no radiation left and we can find no discernible effect on either plant or animal life," says the AEC.

51. 1972 1972  October - Because it is not satisfied with information provided by the AEC, the Bikini Council votes not to return to Bikini as a community, but says it will not prevent individuals from returning. Several Bikini families move back to Bikini into newly built homes.  November - John Anjain's son, Lekoj, who was one year old when exposed to fallout on Rongelap in 1954, dies of leukemia at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. 1973 1973  AEC draft report, not publicly released, concludes that Bravo fallout may have contaminated as many as 18 atolls and islands, including Kwajalein and Majuro. 1975 1975  June - During regular monitoring at Bikini, radiological tests show "higher levels of radioactivity than originally thought" and it "appears to be hotter or questionable as to safety," states a Department of Interior official.  August - AEC surveys suggest some Bikini ground wells are too radioactive for safe use, and that the consumption of pandanus, breadfruit and coconut crabs needs to be prohibited.  October - The Bikinians file suit in U.S. federal court demanding a complete scientific survey of Bikini and other northern Marshall Islands be conducted.

52. 1976 1976  July - The U.S. Congress approves $20 million and military logistic support for a nuclear cleanup of Enewetak Atoll.  A Brookhaven National Laboratory report on Rongelap shows that 20 of 29, or 69 percent of the Rongelap children who were under 10 years old in 1954 have developed thyroid tumors.  The people of Utrik, whose original exposure in 1954 of 14 rads of radiation was less than one-twelfth that of Rongelap, suddenly show a higher rate of thyroid cancer than the Rongelap people, indicating the long latency period before health problems develop from low level radiation exposure.

53. 1977 1977  May - The nuclear cleanup at Enewetak Atoll begins. About 700 U.S. Army personnel carry out the cleanup's first phase, which includes scraping and collecting 100,000 cubic yards of radioactive soil and debris, and 125,000 cubic yards of uncontaminated debris and dumping it in a bomb crater on Runit Island to be sealed with a cap of cement.  June - A Department of Energy study reports: "All living patterns involving Bikini Island exceed Federal (radiation) guidelines for 30 year population doses." About 100 Bikinians continue living on Bikini.  The U.S. Congress approves about $1 million in compensation for Rongelap and Utrik ($100,000 each goes to the Rongelap, Utrik and Bikini for building community facilities; $1,000 each to the 157 exposed Utrik people; and from $25,000 for people with thyroid tumors to 100,000 for people the families of those who have died).

54. 1978 1978  May - Interior Department officials describe the 75 percent increase in radioactive cesium found in the Bikini people as "incredible." Plans are announced to move the people within 90 days.  August - A Department of Energy survey of the northern Marshall Islands reveals that in addition to Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap and Utrik, 10 other atolls or islands "received intermediate range fallout from one or more of the megaton range tests." These included inhabited atolls and islands of Ailuk, Likiep, Mejit, Ujelang and Wotho.  September - The 139 people living on Bikini Atoll are evacuated by U.S. officials. The U.S. government funds a $6 million trust for the Bikini people.

55. 1980 1980  March - The U.S. Defense Nuclear Agency announces that the Enewetak nuclear cleanup is completed. The estimated cost of the cleanup and rehabilitation was $218 million. Enewetak Islanders begin returning home to the southern islands in the atoll. 1981 1981  The Bikinians file a class action law suit against the U.S. government in U.S. courts seeking $450 million in compensation. Attorneys for the Marshall Islands Atomic Testing Litigation Project file lawsuits on behalf of several thousand Marshall Islanders seeking about $4 billion in compensation from the United States for personal injuries from the nuclear testing. 1982 1982  The U.S. establishes a second trust fund of $20 million for the Bikini people. Later, it will increase this with an additional $90 million appropriation in the late1980s.

56. 1983 1983  Compact of Free Association is approved in a plebiscite by about 60 percent of Marshal Islands voters. The Compact includes a Section 177 trust fund of $150 million that is to provide $270 million in compensation payments over the 15 year life of the Compact (Bikini $75 million; Enewetak $48; Rongelap $37 million; Utrik $22 million; Nuclear Claims Tribunal $45 million; $2 million annually for medical care for the "four atolls" 53 million for a nationwide radiological survey; etc.). 1985 1985  March - In a statement delivered to Rep John Seiberling, chairman of the subcommittee on public lands and national parks, Dr. Thomas Hamilton states: "I have performed examinations on over 7,000 people from the northern atolls and from three southern atolls...There are several northern atolls in which the prevalence rates of thyroid neoplasia (benign and malignant) are equal to or greater than those observed by Brookhaven on Utirik Atoll where the radiation dose is known."  May - Rongelap people evacuate their atoll, moving to Mejatto, a small island in the northwestern section of Kwajalein Atoll. Rongelap leaders say they fear that continued residence on Rongelap will expose them to dangerous levels of radiation.

57. 1986 1986  The U.S. Congress approves the Compact of Free Association.  The Compact includes an espousal provision, prohibiting Marshall Islanders from seeking future legal redress in U.S. courts and dismissing all current court cases in exchange for a $150 million compensation trust fund.  October The Compact between America and the Marshall Islands goes into effect.

58. 1991 1991  August - The Nuclear Claims Tribunal approves its first compensation awards, based on a list of health conditions presumed to be caused by radiation, and therefore eligible for compensation. Because of concerns that the $45 million available may not be adequate to pay all claims, the Tribunal limits initial payments to 25 percent of the total awards. 1994 1994  January - U.S. Rep. George Miller writes to President Bill Clinton: "Some Rongelapese have said they believe they were used as 'guinea pigs' to further U.S. understanding of the effects of radiation on humans. In light of recent disclosures regarding actual radiation experimentation in the United States during this period, that possibility cannot be ignored.“

59.  He also comments on an ongoing thyroid study in the Marshalls. "The findings of the thyroid survey are disturbing. The Committee has been informed that even if only 50 percent of the survey results are verified...the incidence rate is still significantly higher, by a factor of 100, than the rate of thyroid cancer found anywhere else in the world."  The U.S. Department of Energy begins releasing thousands of previously classified nuclear test era documents, many of which confirm the wider extent of the fallout contamination in the Marshall Islands.

60. 1995 1995  February - Marshall Islands officials testify before President Clinton's Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments in Washington, D.C. stating that fallout exposed many more than the four atolls acknowledged by the U.S. government, and that islanders were purposefully resettled on contaminated islands so the U.S. could study the long-term effects of radiation.  October - The U.S. Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments issues its final report, including observations and recommendations on the Marshall Islands. The report recommends that at least two more atolls, Ailuk and Likiep, be included in a medical program, and that the Department of Energy's program "be reviewed to determine if it is appropriate to add to the program populations of other atolls to the south and east of the (Bravo) blast whose inhabitants may have received exposures sufficient to cause excess thyroid abnormalities.“  December - The Nuclear Claims Tribunal reports that it has awarded $43.2 million, nearly its entire fund, to 1,196 claimants for 1,311 illnesses.

61. 1996 1996  August - The Nuclear Claims Tribunal projects that it will have $100 million in personal injury claims by 2001, when the Compact ends.  Land claims for Bikini, Enewetak and other northern islands are also pending before the Tribunal. The Tribunal's claim claim fund, however, is limited to $45 million.

62.  July - U.S. Representatives George Miller and Ron de Lugo write to Dr. Ruth Faden, chairperson of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments: "...There is no doubt that the AEC intentionally returned (Marshallese) to islands which it considered to be "by far the most contaminated places in the world,' but which it told the people were safe. Nor is there any doubt that the AEC, through the Brookhaven National Laboratory, then planned and conducted test after test on these people to study their bodies' reaction to life in that contaminated environment. "  December - A five-year study of 432 islands in the Marshall Islands shows that 15 atolls and single islands -almost half of this nation were dusted by radioactive fallout from the U.S. nuclear weapons tests of the 1950s.

63.  On March 5, 2001, the Nuclear Claims Tribunal handed down a decision on a seven year lawsuit the Bikinians had brought against the United States for damages done to their islands and their people during the nuclear testing on Bikini.  The Tribunal gave them a total award of $563,315,500.00 [loss of value $278,000,000.00, restoration costs $251,500,000.00, suffering and hardship $33,814,500.00], which is the final amount after deducting the past compensation awarded by the U.S. government [see above three trust funds].  The problem is that the Nuclear Claims Tribunal, which was created by the Compact of Free Association of 1986, was underfunded and does not have the money to pay for this claim.  It is now up to the people of Bikini to petition the U.S. Congress for the money to fulfill this award. This is expected to take many years and it is uncertain if the United States will honor their claim.

64. Nuclear Weapons in the Pacific  A wide variety of nuclear weapons and delivery systems began arriving in the Pacific region starting in 1956.  Army, air force, and navy nuclear weapons were deployed to Guam, Okinawa, and Hawaii.  From 1957 to 1958, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines became new locations for President Eisenhower's nuclear weapons dispersal policy.  Beginning in January 1958, U.S. nuclear-armed Matador cruise missiles were deployed on Taiwan, less than 200 miles from mainland China.  Also, in early 1958, the United States deployed atomic artillery, Honest John missiles, bombs, and atomic demolition munitions to South Korea. Matador missiles were also sent to South Korea

65.  At the end of the Eisenhower administration, U.S. nuclear deployments on shore in the Pacific— at Okinawa, Guam, the Philippines, Korea, and Taiwan (but not Hawaii)— totaled approximately 1,600 weapons.  There were about a dozen weapons on Taiwan, 60 in the Philippines, 225 on Guam, and 600 in Korea.  The lion's share—nearly 800 weapons—were located at Kadena airbase, Okinawa, the location of SAC's strategic bombers.

66.  New dispersals to the Pacific region began with the Kennedy administration.  By the beginning of 1963, on- shore deployments—to Guam, Okinawa, the Philippines, and Taiwan— grew to about 2,400, a 66 percent increase from 1961 levels.  The on-shore stockpile in the Pacific peaked in mid-1967 at about 3,200 weapons, 2,600 of which were in Korea and Okinawa.

67.  Several unusual deployments, which have yet to be fully explained, took place in the South Pacific during the mid-1960s.  From 1963 to 1966, the army stationed a Nike Zeus anti-ballistic missile system with W50 nuclear warheads on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.  Also, from 1964 to 1971, nuclear-armed Thor intermediate-range ballistic missiles were deployed on Johnston Island in support of "Program 437," an anti-satellite system based on the island.

68.  Beginning in 1967, Pacific on-shore deployments began to decrease.  By the end of the Nixon administration in 1974, the total was cut to half of peak levels—from 3,200 to 1,600.  By 1977 it had fallen to about 1,200 warheads. Politically sensitive warheads were withdrawn from Japan, and the Philippines was denuclearized, virtually in secret. SAC reduced its presence in the Pacific and U.S. warheads were withdrawn from Okinawa soon after it reverted to Japan in 1972.  By the end of the 1970s, only South Korea remained a forward base for U.S. nuclear weapons. (The last weapons were withdrawn from Korea in 1991.)

69. Impact on Other Native Groups

70. Dinetah

71. Uranium Mines

72.  By 1958, there were 7,500 reports of uranium finds in the United States with over 7,000,000 tons of ore identified.  During the peak in the mid- 1950's, there were about 750 mines in operation. The Navajo Reservation is situated on one corner of the uranium-mining belt and was greatly affected by the mining boom  More than 1000 abandoned uranium mines shafts are now estimated to lie on Navajo land

73.  1959 report found radiation levels ninety times acceptable limits. Of the 150 Navajo uranium miners who worked at the uranium mine in Shiprock, New Mexico until 1970, 133 died of lung cancer or various forms of fibrosis by 1980

74.  Over 1,000 of these unsealed tunnels, unsealed pits and radioactive waste piles still remain on the Navajo reservation today, with Navajo families living within a hundred feet of the mine sites.  The Navajo graze their livestock here, and have used radioactive mine tailings to build their homes.  Navajo children play in the mines, and uranium mine tailings have turned up in school playgrounds

75. Church Rock Disaster  Church Rock, New Mexico, July 16, 1979  eleven hundred tons of radioactive mill wastes and ninety million gallons of contaminated liquid pouring toward Arizona  Residues of radioactive uranium, thorium, radium, and polonium, as well as traces of metals such as cadmium, aluminum, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, sodium, vanadium, zinc, iron, lead and high concentrations of sulfates. The spill degraded the western Rio Puerco water source. It carried toxic metals already detectable at least seventy miles downstream.

76. Termination Policy  1953 House Concurrent Resolution 108  1954-1962 61 tribes terminated  Relocation program  Urban Indian issues  Uranium Mining: Navajo History  Nuclear Testing: Shoshone History  Nuclear Waste: “Radioactive Rez’s”

77. California Urban Indians  Indian Non Indian  College 2% 10%  8th grade 43% 28%  $ 2,800 $7,600  Unemployment 25% 6%  Living Conditions:  51% Housing unsafe, 65% poor sewage  45% contaminated water

78. Urban Indians  Friendship House Association of American Indians  Native American Health Clinic  American Indian Public Charter School  American Indian Family Healing Center  Services, Programs and Success