Runit Island

{{Short description|Island in the Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox islands | name = Runit Island | native_name =  | native_name_link = | native_name_lang = | sobriquet =  | image_name = Runit Island Satellite Image.png | image_size = | image_caption = Satellite view of Runit Island showing the Runit Dome | image_alt = | image_map = | map_alt = | map_size = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Marshall Islands#Micronesia | pushpin_label = | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_relief = | pushpin_map_caption = | coordinates = {{Coord|11.5450|162.3530|format=dms|type:isle_region:MH-ENI|display=inline, title|name=Runit Island}} | etymology = | location = Pacific Ocean | grid_reference =  | archipelago = Enewetak Atoll | waterbody = | total_islands = 40 | major_islands = | area_km2 =  | area_footnotes = | rank = | length_km =  | length_footnotes = | width_km =  | width_footnotes = | coastline_km =  | coastline_footnotes = | elevation_m = | elevation_footnotes = | highest_mount = | country = Marshall Islands | country_admin_divisions_title = | country_admin_divisions = | country_admin_divisions_title_1 = | country_admin_divisions_1 = | country_admin_divisions_title_2 = | country_admin_divisions_2 = | country_capital_type = | country_capital = Majuro | country_largest_city_type = | country_largest_city = | country_capital_and_largest_city = | country_largest_city_population = | country_leader_title = | country_leader_name = | country_area_km2 =  | country1 = | country1_admin_divisions_title = | country1_admin_divisions = | country1_admin_divisions_title_1 = | country1_admin_divisions_1 = | country1_capital_type = | country1_capital = | country1_largest_city_type = | country1_largest_city = | country1_capital_and_largest_city = | country1_largest_city_population = | country1_leader_title = | country1_leader_name = | country1_area_km2 =  | demonym = | population = | population_as_of = | population_footnotes = | population_rank = | population_rank_max = | density_km2 = | density_rank = | density_footnotes = | languages = | ethnic_groups = | timezone1 = | utc_offset1 = | timezone1_DST = | utc_offset1_DST = | website = | additional_info = | footnotes = }}

'''Runit Island''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|uː|n|ɪ|t}}) is one of forty islands of the Enewetak Atoll of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The island is the site of a radioactive waste repository left by the United States after it conducted a series of nuclear tests on Enewetak Atoll between 1946 and 1958. There are ongoing concerns around deterioration of the waste site and a potential radioactive spill.<ref name="LA Times">{{cite web|title=How the U.S. Betrayed the Marshall Islands, Kindling the Next Nuclear Disaster |url=https://www.latimes.com/projects/marshall-islands-nuclear-testing-sea-level-rise/ |website=Los Angeles Times |date=10 November 2019 |access-date=12 November 2019}}</ref>

==Runit Dome== [[File:Runit Dome 001.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the Runit Dome. The dome is placed in the crater created by the "Cactus" nuclear weapons test in 1958.]]

===Construction=== The '''Runit Dome''', also called '''Cactus Dome''' or locally "the Tomb", is a {{convert|115|m|ft|abbr=on}} diameter,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://marshallislands.llnl.gov/ccc/Hamilton_LLNL-TR-648143_final.pdf|title=A Visual Description of the Concrete Exterior of the Cactus Crater Containment Structure|date=October 2013|access-date=21 November 2016|archive-date=17 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417042626/https://marshallislands.llnl.gov/ccc/Hamilton_LLNL-TR-648143_final.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> {{convert|46|cm|in|abbr=on}} thick dome of concrete at sea level, encapsulating an estimated {{convert|73000|m3|cuyd|abbr=on}} of radioactive debris, including some plutonium-239. The debris stems from nuclear tests conducted in the Enewetak Atoll by the United States between 1946 and 1958.<ref name="abc-20171128">{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-27/the-dome-runit-island-nuclear-test-leaking-due-to-climate-change/9161442 |title=A poison in our island |last=Willacy |first=Mark |date=28 November 2017 |publisher= ABC (Australia) |access-date=28 November 2017}}</ref><ref>Emma Reynolds. "[http://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/deadly-dome-of-gorgeous-pacific-island-leaking-radioactive-waste/news-story/46ea600ea9db15c1563fbc299a5e0906 Deadly dome of gorgeous Pacific island leaking radioactive waste]", ''news.com.au'', 7 July 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2017.</ref>

From 1977 to 1980, loose waste and topsoil from six different islands in the Enewetak Atoll was transported to the site and mixed with concrete to seal the nuclear blast crater created by the Cactus test. Four thousand US servicemen were involved in the cleanup from this test, and it took three years to complete. The waste-filled crater was finally entombed in concrete.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://marshallislands.llnl.gov/enewetak.php|title=Enewetak|publisher=Marshall Islands Dose Assessment & Radioecology Program|date=7 April 2015|accessdate=19 December 2017|archive-date=13 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313211216/https://marshallislands.llnl.gov/enewetak.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Disclosure and accounting==== U.S. government test records state that during Operation Hardtack I in 1958, over 118 metric tonnes of soil were imported from the Nevada Test Site to Enewetak and placed "in a conical plug beneath the intended burst point" as part of preparations for the Fig nuclear test.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/DTIC_ADA136819/DTIC_ADA136819_djvu.txt |title=Operation Hardtack I, 1958 |publisher=Defense Nuclear Agency |id=DNA 6038F |access-date=13 February 2026}}</ref> Investigative reporting has stated that this transfer was not disclosed to Marshallese representatives during negotiations leading to the 1986 Compact of Free Association.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/dec/04/how-the-us-betrayed-the-marshall-islands-kindling-/ |title=How the U.S. betrayed the Marshall Islands, kindling the next nuclear disaster |last=Smith |first=R. Jeffrey |date=4 December 2019 |publisher=Los Angeles Times (reprinted by The Spokesman-Review) |access-date=13 February 2026}}</ref>

According to the United States Department of Energy, the Runit containment structure holds approximately {{convert|100000|cuyd|m3|abbr=on}} of radioactively contaminated soil and debris collected during cleanup operations of Enewetak Atoll.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-11/EXEC-2022-000333%20-%202022%20Runit%20Dome%20Report%20to%20Congress%20-%20Comment%20Resolution-10-13-2022_Final_0.pdf |title=Report to Congress on the Status of the Runit Dome in the Marshall Islands |publisher=U.S. Department of Energy |date=2022 |access-date=13 February 2026}}</ref> The department has not published a complete, independently verified inventory detailing all materials transported to, rehandled at, or ultimately disposed of at the site.

===Erosion=== In 1982, a US government task force raised concern about a probable breach if a severe typhoon were to hit the island.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/opinion/a-pacific-isle-radioactive-and-forgotten.html|title=A Pacific Isle, Radioactive and Forgotten|author=Michael B. Gerrard|work=The New York Times|date=3 December 2014|accessdate=4 February 2018}}</ref> In 2013, a report by the US Department of Energy<ref name="doe-report2013">{{Cite web |url=https://marshallislands.llnl.gov/ccc/Hamilton_LLNL-TR-648143_final.pdf |title=Visual Description of the Concrete Exterior of the Cactus Crater Containment Structure LLNL-TR-648143 |access-date=21 November 2016 |archive-date=17 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417042626/https://marshallislands.llnl.gov/ccc/Hamilton_LLNL-TR-648143_final.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> found that the concrete dome had weathered with minor cracking of the structure.<ref>Jan Hendrik Hinzel, Coleen Jose and Kim Wall. "[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/03/runit-dome-pacific-radioactive-waste This dome in the Pacific houses tons of radioactive waste – and it's leaking]", ''The Guardian'', 3 July 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2018.</ref>

However, the soil around the dome was found to be more contaminated than its contents, so a breach could not increase the radiation levels by any means. Because the cleaning operation in the 1970s only removed an estimated 0.8 percent of the total transuranic waste in the Enewetak atoll,<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=2}} the soil and the lagoon water surrounding the structure now contain a higher level of radioactivity than the debris of the dome itself, so even in the event of a total collapse, the radiation dose delivered to the local resident population or marine environment should not change significantly.

Concern primarily lies in the rapid tidal response to the height of the water beneath the debris pile, with the potential for contamination of the groundwater supply with radionuclides. One particular concern is that, in order to save costs, the original plan to line the porous bottom crater with concrete was abandoned.<ref name="abc-20171128" /> Since the bottom of the crater consists of permeable soil, there is seawater inside the dome.<ref name="abc-20171128" />

However, as the Department of Energy report stated, the released radionuclides will be very rapidly diluted and should not cause any elevated radioactive risk for the marine environment, compared to what is already experienced.<ref name="doe-report2013" /> Leaking and breaching of the dome could however disperse plutonium, a radioactive element that is also a toxic heavy metal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/the-dome/9198340 |title=The Dome|author=Mark Willacy|publisher=ABC (Australia)|date=27 November 2017|accessdate=4 February 2018}}</ref><ref>* {{YouTube|autMHvj3exA|ABC News documentary, 41min}}</ref>

An investigative report by the ''Los Angeles Times'' in November 2019 reignited fears of the dome cracking and releasing radioactive material into the soil and surrounding water.<ref name="LA Times" /><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/opinion/a-pacific-isle-radioactive-and-forgotten.html A Pacific isle radioactive and forgotten], ''The New York Times'', Michael B. Gerrard, 3 December 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2016.</ref> The DOE was directed by Congress to assess the condition of the structure and develop a repair plan during the first half of 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a30338371/congress-investigation-runit-dome-nuclear-waste/|title=Nuclear Waste – Runit Dome – Marshall Islands|last=Mizokami|first=Kyle|website=www.popularmechanics.com|date=27 December 2019|access-date=28 December 2019}}</ref> The report was published in June 2020.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Report on the Status of the Runit Dome in the Marshall Islands |url=https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-11/DOE%20Runit%20Dome%20Report%20to%20Congress%20-%20Secretary%20of%20Energy%20Signed%20%20June%20202....pdf |access-date=2 March 2023 |website=Energy.gov}}</ref>

In June 2020, the US Department of Energy released a report stating that the dome is in no immediate danger of collapse or breach and that the radioactive material within is not expected to have any measurable adverse effect on the surrounding environment for the next twenty years.<ref>{{cite web|title=Report on the Status of the Runit Dome in the Marshall Islands |url=https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2020/06/f76/DOE-Runit-Dome-Report-to-Congress.pdf |website=energy.gov |date=June 2020 |access-date=23 August 2023}}</ref>

==Illness of army personnel== Some of the U.S. Army personnel who participated in the dome construction and transport of radioactive materials have claimed that illnesses that developed years later resulted from exposure during the cleanup. Some have died of cancer or developed other serious health problems.<ref>{{cite web|title=Troops Who Cleaned Up Radioactive Islands Can't Get Medical Care |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/28/us/troops-radioactive-islands-medical-care.html |website=The New York Times |date=28 January 2017 |access-date=3 April 2021}}</ref> The U.S. government has disputed a causal connection between the cleanup work and these illnesses, stating that Enewetak cleanup veterans encountered low levels of radiological contamination and have a low risk of health problems.<ref>{{cite web|title=Radiological cleanup at Enewetak Atoll |url=https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/radiation/sources/enewetak.asp |website=Veterans Affairs Public Health |publisher=United States Department of Veterans Affairs |date=30 September 2024 |access-date=12 May 2026}}</ref> Under the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, the Department of Veterans Affairs added participation in the cleanup of Enewetak Atoll from 1 January 1977, through 31 December 1980, to the list of radiation-risk activities for which exposure is presumed for certain disability claims.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ionizing radiation exposure |url=https://www.va.gov/disability/eligibility/hazardous-materials-exposure/ionizing-radiation/ |website=Veterans Affairs |publisher=United States Department of Veterans Affairs |date=18 July 2023 |access-date=12 May 2026}}</ref>

==Gallery== {{image frame |caption=Location within Enewetak Atoll |content={{overlay |image = Enewetak Atoll - 2014-02-10 - Landsat 8 - 15m.png |width = 197 |height = 199 |overlay1 = Runit Island |overlay1tip = Runit Island |overlay1top = 60 |overlay1left = 170 }} }} <gallery> File:Ivy King - mushroom cloud.jpg|In 1952, the United States dropped the nuclear bomb Ivy King 610 m (2,000 feet) north of Runit Island. File:Operation Hardtack I Cactus shot crater, Runit Island, Enewetak Atoll.jpg|Crater created by detonation on 5 May 1958 (Operation Hardtack I, Cactus test) </gallery>

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Enewetak Atoll Category:American nuclear test sites Category:Islands of the Marshall Islands

Runit Island

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