Posters of charred bodies, diseased patients and birth defects marked the opening of the first UAS Nuclear Awareness Conference.

The conference spanned Friday, April 18 through Sunday.  Throughout the days, conference attendees could visit booths dispersed around Egan or view documentaries shown in Egan classrooms.

Each evening included one or more keynote speakers, with a total of five, who discussed the damages caused by nuclear weapons development and use. 

Friday’s speakers focused on U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands, an archipelago located in the South Pacific.

Dr. Holly Barker, professor at the University of Washington in Seattle and ambassador to the Marshall Islands, elaborated on the extent of U.S. testing and its unwillingness to pay reparations for the damages caused.

Every day for twelve years, the U.S. tested nuclear bombs on the Enewetak and Bikini Atolls.  Although both islands were evacuated before testing, radiation from the sites traveled throughout the entirety of the Marshall Islands.

“[The Marshall Islands] are still dealing with the effects of the nuclear era,” Dr. Barker said.  Many food sources still contain unsafe amounts of radiation.

Lijon Eknilang, a Marshallese protester who also spoke at the Nuclear Awareness Conference, suffered seven miscarriages and has helped deliver multiple still born babies resulting from fallout damage. All Marshall Islands have reported birth defects and miscarriages.

In addition to direct nuclear tests, U.S. scientists conducted experiments on the Marshallese people. Some experiments, Dr. Barker explained, involved injecting radiation directly into the bloodstream. All effects were observed and noted without offering treatment.

Despite the testing, the U.S. had offered “deplorable” assistance to the Marshallese people.

Mayor James Matayoshi of the Rongelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands and Lijon Eknilang spoke before Dr. Barker’s presentation.  Both stressed the importance of U.S. repayment.

“I did not come here for you to cry for me” said Eknilang. She came trying to allow the audience to share her point of view as a distressed Marshallese.

“What it comes down to,” remarked Dr. Barker, “is trying to get the U.S. to take responsibility for the problems it has caused the Marshall Islands.”

The U.S. continues to regularly test ballistic, non-nuclear missiles on the Marshall Islands.

Shigeko Sasamori, a survivor of Hiroshima, also spoke at the conference.  Sasamiri was thirteen years old when the atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima, Japan.

The front third of her body was burned in the blast.  She recovered from her scars after receiving surgery in a U.S. hospital.

Despite her experiences, Sasamiri maintains a positive attitude. “I cannot forget that America bombed,” she said, “but I cannot just sit down and crybaby.” Today Sasamire regularly tours the world and appears at similar events. Her lasting plea echoed the Marshallese’s. “I have to ask people to stop making atomic bombs and stop making war.”

Sunday’s speaker, Victoria Samson, from the Center for Defense Information in Washington D.C., commented on the challenges of a nuclear defense system.

Samson delivered a very detailed message, weighing the costs and limited benefits of ballistic missile defense systems. She clearly distinguished her opinion as unaffiliated with views held by the Center for Defense Information.

The poster exhibit in the UAS Egan Library contained photographs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the nuclear destruction and continued into the modern era with images of birth defects and diseases caused by the nuclear fallout.  The Hiroshima Peace Museum donated the display for use in the Nuclear Awareness Conference.

Those who missed the Nuclear Awareness Conference can watch or listen to the keynote speakers under the Video Production section of the UAS Media Services website.