- [Narrator] This looks
like an ordinary dome in the middle of an island, but it hides a terrible secret that could hugely impact the world. And yes, it's also a little weird to have a big concrete circle in the middle of an uninhabited island. What could it be? Prepare to be amazed, as I tell you what's hidden in this dome can destroy the Earth. Or at least, a large chunk of it. (calm music) The Marshalls Islands is an island country of a little more than 50,000 people, spread out across 29 coral atolls, one of which you see here. This is Runit Island, one of more than one thousand, one hundred individual islands. An islet, making up the Marshall Islands. And part of the Enewetak Atoll, seen here. It looks like a peaceful spot to vacation, with palm trees, blue
waters, and sandy beaches. The dome itself, sometimes
called the cactus dome, or the tomb, is a bit unsightly. But hey, it could be paved over, and we could build a mini-mart, right? Well, not so fast. While many of the other
islands are inhabited, and pleasant places to visit, Runit Island will be uninhabited
for a very long time, at least 24,000 years, probably more. The island itself is considered too remote to be guarded. So anyone can visit by boat. But I wouldn't wanna hang out there for an extended period of time. The dome is built in the
crater of the Cactus test, a nuclear test conducted
on Runit Island in 1958. The hollowed out crater, left
behind by the nuclear blast, was filled with radioactive
waste from the Cactus and other nuclear tests the U.S conducted during the cold war between 1946 and 1958. After three years of cleanup, the dome was covered with concrete. Unfortunately, plans to
line the bottom of the dome with concrete before piling
in the radioactive waste were canceled due to costs. And the atolls are made of
coral, a very poor substance. That means radioactive waste
has started leeching out at the bottom of the crater. Worse, plans to keep all the material entombed in concrete also
failed to take into account global warming, which, let's be honest, was not a concept anyone was familiar with in the 1950s. It's possible rising
sea levels could destroy the top of the dome,
spreading radioactive waste out into the Pacific Ocean. Sadly, many people have already been hurt by waste materials, created
during the United States Cold War nuclear tests. One blast in the Bikini
Atoll, Operation Castle, sent up a large mushroom
cloud of radioactive waste, after producing a much larger yield than the scientists expected. The nuclear engineers
weren't the only ones who miscalculated. Weather forecasters, as
accurate then as they are now, predicted winds would blow the cloud away from any inhabited areas. Unfortunately, they were wrong. And residents of the Enewetak Atoll were visited by a cloud of ash. Many didn't know what it was. Some even thought the
white powder might be snow, despite the warm temperatures. The island was evacuated. But many inhabitants, including children, already suffered severe burns. The clouds spread further, reaching the Rongerik,
Rongelap, and Utirik Atolls. The U.S government belatedly evacuated people from the islands. Meanwhile, residents who
had already been relocated to nearby Atolls, so Bikini
could be used for testing, were also told they could
return home afterwards. Unfortunately, that
didn't work out either. And many of the islands
still have high levels of radioactivity today. Worse, the U.S decided to study
the effects of the radiation on the island survivors, by
setting up a secret project. Essentially using the
victims for medical research without their consent, or knowledge. Marshall Islands' inhabitants
weren't the only ones harmed by the nuclear test. Several Japanese fishermen became ill with radiation poisoning,
after being in the area around the time of one test blast. Their ship was covered in radioactive ash, and many showed symptoms of
acute radiation sickness. One fisherman later died from hepatitis, which he likely contracted
from a blood transfusion, used to treat his radiation poisoning. Then there were the U.S military members, sent to clean up the islands,
and build that ominous dome on Runit Island. Former serviceman Jim Androll was sent to the Enewetak
Atoll in the 1970s, to work on cleaning up the island. He says he and other service personnel were not informed of the radioactivity, and were misled into
believing they were visiting a nice beach in the Pacific. Press coverage at the time
said the U.S armed forces personnel were working
to beautify the island, while cleaning up that
pesky radioactive waste. When journalists visited with TV cameras, they got footage of people
working in radiation suits. However, Androll says that was just a show for the cameras. He claims the real workers
were given no specialized gear or training, and were
issued their standard warm weather uniforms, which
included shorts and t-shirts. He recalls picking up chunks of debris, most likely plutonium
waste from a nuclear test that fizzled, and putting
them into trash bags, which were tossed into the dome. Declassified documents suggest
officials and Washington were aware of the island's
radioactivity levels. However, they claimed the
armed forces personnel were given protective gear, and should not have been in any danger. Jim Androll tells a different story. For years, he says he's been
plagued with health problems, caused by the radiation he
was exposed to on Enewetak. Androll also says he knows
many other Enewetak veterans, who also suffered health
problems they believe are related to their time
in the Marshall Islands. They even have a FaceBook group to discuss their issues online. This is particularly problematic, because the U.S government
doesn't recognize armed forces personnel,
who worked on the Atoll, as atomic veterans. In government speak, that means they don't have special health coverage, to deal with problems caused by radiation. The government says
their safety precautions were exemplary, and more than 4,000 troops on Enewetak were exposed
to levels of radiation below recommended limits. They also say any illnesses
the veterans experience later must be unrelated to their involvement in the nuclear cleanup,
because they don't have special health coverage,
like other atomic veterans. Many involved with the
Runit Island cleanup are saddled with crippling medical debt. Ken Kassa says he was initially excited to run a military exchange in Enewetak. At this time, it seemed
like a dream come true, cause he always wanted to
live on the deserted island in the Pacific. Unfortunately, the years of
health problems that followed, including more than 40
surgeries for cancerous lesions, have turned his dream into a nightmare. Sadly, the Marshall
Islanders, and American armed forces personnel, who
were exposed to radiation in the Atolls, may not be the last victims of the nuclear test site. Remember that global warming
was not in anyone's mind in the 70s, and rising sea
levels could compromise the dome, which is likely already leaking radiation through it's coral bottom. And this isn't even the
worst nuclear cleanup disaster site. That would be Hanford, Washington. It's the site where the
U.S produced plutonium that was used in a variety of projects, including that famous one,
the Manhattan Project, which produced the bomb
that destroyed Nagasaki in World War Two. Hanford's Plutonium was also used to stockpile weapons during the Cold War. Where did all the waste go? Into steel tanks, many
of which are now leaking into nearby groundwater. Leaks were found as early as the 1950s, so site management remedied
the situation in 1964 by using double-walled tanks. Yeah, those are now leaking too. 56 billion tons of nuclear waste are sitting near the center of the site. Once a booming suburb,
built around the plutonium production facility, Hanford
now has a new industry. Nuclear waste cleanup. The cleanup project so far has cost more than $42 billion dollars, and it's expected to continue for at least another 50 years. The Department of Energy, or DoE, manages the project, and loves to brag about it's successes in treating
more than 9 billion gallons of groundwater, cocooning seven reactors, and cleaning or destroying many buildings. Unfortunately, that
ignores the large amount of nuclear waste still sitting at Hanford. Worse, people who worked
at or near the site have been reporting illnesses too. Many claimed they
weren't allowed air tanks when working at the reactor site. Seth Ellingsworth says he fell ill with a rare lung disease, after smelling something strange while working at the site. The breathing problems that
have plagued him since then were diagnosed as reactive airway disease, which is usually linked with smoking. But Seth says he never smoked, and had no health problems
before working at the waste site. Other residents have been
diagnosed with dementia, a common problem in the elderly. But many of the Hanford
sufferers are relatively young. While the DoE has committed
to cleaning up Hanford, the U.S and other countries
have a terrible track record when it comes to dealing
with nuclear waste. Weapons aside, many parts of the country use nuclear reactors
to produce electricity, and burning coal comes with
it's own environmental problems. So what's a better way to
deal with nuclear waste? Here are some ideas from
the world's top brains. Blast it into space! We could either load it onto a rocket, and fire it into the Sun, which is a big burning
ball of fire anyway, or just send it anywhere into space. Who's going to know? Well, unless some aliens find it and decide to stamp it return to sender, then we might be in trouble. Realistically, there are bigger problems. Edward Teller, known as the
father of the hydrogen bomb, didn't think strapping a
bunch of a nuclear waste to a rocket was such a hot idea. After all, rockets have
a habit of blowing up. Another suggestion is to somehow get all the nuclear waste to
Antarctica, and dump it there. No easy feat. Then it can just melt
it's way to the bottom of the Antarctic ice shield. As you might imagine,
environmental concerns prompted this idea to be official outlawed by an international treaty, before anyone could try it. But who needs to go all
the way to Antarctica, when you could just lower
canisters of nuclear waste into a deep sea vent on the ocean floor. Find a nice space between
some tectonic plates, and that radioactive material can just go the way of the change in my pocket. Disappearing between couch cushions. On the other hand, I've seen Sharknado, and the last thing the world
needs is mutant sharks. These ideas all inevitably lead back to just putting our
nuclear waste into tanks are going to fail well
before the material stops, well, radiating. Obviously, it hasn't worked out that well. But on the plus side, no one
really has a better idea, so it looks like we're going
to keep doing it anyway. So, back to the Runit Island dome. What would happen if rising sea levels or a big storm destroys the dome, distributing radioactive
waste material into the ocean? Experts aren't sure, but some believe it would actually be no big deal. Some scientists believe
that because so much nuclear waste material has
already leeched into the water around the Marshall Island Atolls, that if the dome was
destroyed, things might not get significantly worse
than they already are. On the other hand, maybe
instead of a tornado, we'll get a hurricane of
glow in the dark sharks. Wait, I have to call
Hollywood about that one. What dangerous things
do you think the world should pay more attention to? Let me know in the comment
section down below. Also, if you enjoy this
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