Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day (Marshall Islands)

A national public holiday in the Marshall Islands, this day honours the victims and survivors of the US government’s nuclear testing program in the Pacific Ocean atolls of Bikini and Enewetak between 1946 and 1958. The day is observed to raise awareness about the impact of nuclear weapons testing and to promote a world free of nuclear weapons.

The hydrogen bomb detonated at a corner of Bikini Atoll was reportedly a thousand times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima during the end of World War II and created high levels of radiation, causing long-term health and environmental consequences. Fallout from the bomb spread to the residents of Utirik and Rongelap atolls and around the world. The islanders were evacuated only three days after the testing, and many suffered radiation sickness. Claims between the USA and the Islands are ongoing.