First Visit Since 1946

Four elderly women who were evacuated from Bikini Atoll more than 50
years ago returned home to begin the ceremonial process of cleaning up
their still radioactive island.  They had not been back since the U.S.
Navy took them to the island of Kili in 1946 so a series of nuclear bombs
could be exploded at Bikini.

Decades of efforts by the American government to decontaminate the atoll
have lead to the recent announcement that radioactivity there is well
within internationally accepted levels.

The island has been saturated with potassium fertilizer to prevent
coconuts and other plants from sucking up radioactive cesium 137 from the
ground. It is believed that locally grown food would now be safe for
consumption.