"Nuclear Savage"

The Republic of the Marshall Islands is ranked #5 in the world among countries with the highest health costs as a percentage of GDP -- behind Liberia, Sierra Leone, Tuvalu, and the United States.  

The history of the treatment of the radiation victims of the Marshall Islands is essentially a paradigm for the treatment of radiation victims everywhere. The perpetrators of radiation-exposure lose patience with the seemingly endless  effects of their acts and so they tend to abandon all responsibility for them.  So far at least, the Marshall Islands history appears to be foreshadowing Fukushima's future. 

Given the unpalatibility this story might have for an American television audience, it's little wonder that public broadcasting executives are content to spend public money to keep the public under-informed.  

After-notes:  

"The term "savage" is used to refer to people from primitive cultures, but this documentary shows how savagery reaches new levels with the advent of advanced technology. In the 1950s, the U.S. conducted 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, vaporizing islands and exposing entire populations to fallout. The people of Rongelap received near fatal doses of radiation from one of these tests, and were then moved to a highly contaminated island to serve as guinea pigs to test the affects of radiation on humans for almost 30 years, where they suffered from recurring cancers and birth defects that have affected multiple generations. This cynical act by the U.S. government was conducted with such arrogant racism that without incredible archival footage and shocking secret documents, the story would seem unbelievable."

-- Film Society Lincoln Center , New York City, description of "Nuclear Savage: The Islands of Secret Project 4.1"  

"The Republic of the Marshall Islands covers nearly a million square miles of picturesque islands, thriving coral atolls, and crystal clear blue waters ". undoubtedly one of the most interesting places in the world to visit."  

-- Marshall Islands government promotion for tourism in 2014  

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