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The people of a tiny atoll in the western Pacific have been awarded US$307 million ($444 million) in compensation for the devastation caused by US nuclear bomb testing - but may never receive the cash.
The Nuclear Claims Tribunal in the Marshall Islands awarded the compensation to inhabitants of Utrik atoll in a decision released at the end of last week, but the tribunal has exhausted funds intended for payments.
The US, which carried out 67 atmospheric nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958, argues it has already paid "full and final" compensation for the damage caused by the nuclear tests.
Under a 1986 agreement, it paid about US$80 million ($115 million) to fund the tribunal, but the body has already awarded more than US$90 million ($130 million) in health injury cases and over US$1.2 billion ($1.7 billion) in land damage awards for the Bikini, Enewetak and Utrik atolls.
Utrik is about 370km from Bikini, where the largest ever atmospheric test was detonated on March 1, 1954. Radioactive fallout hit Utrik atoll a few hours after the test, prompting the evacuation of the islanders.
- AFP
