The Marshall Islands community of Bikini Atoll says they won't give up their bid for adequate nuclear test compensation despite signs the US Supreme Court won't hear their case.
The Bikinians filed suit in the US Federal Court of Claims in 2006 after a Nuclear Claims Tribunal issued a 563 million US dollar damage award in their favour - but did not have the money to pay it.
The islanders are appealing to the Supreme Court to reverse the dismissal of this award but their attorney has all but counted out their chances of a hearing.
But spokesman, Jack Niedenthal, says they are not giving up hope.
"There's not much hope with regards to the law suit, I can tell you that. But I would say, in terms of getting compensation and further just due from the US government, we'll never give up on that because there's still the avenue with the US Congress because it's always open and it's always very important to us and that's where we've got most of our awards anyway - the courts have never really given us anything."
