22 Jul 2004

Long time Marshall Islander critic of US goverment's bomb tests, dies at 83

8:12 pm on 22 July 2004

A Marshall Islander who was an icon among survivors of the American nuclear test fallout, John Anjain, has died in a Honolulu hospital at the age of 83.

Mr Anjain was the mayor of Rongelap Atoll when the 15-megaton Bravo hydrogen bomb was tested in March 1954.

He became an outspoken critic over what he said was the US government's secrecy on the effects of Bravo.

In 1972, after the death of his son from leukemia, Mr Anjain and other Rongelap Islanders refused the annual US medical survey and escalated their calls for independent doctors to evaluate their health condition.

He travelled to Washington, New York and Japan to garner support for the bomb test victims, which ultimately led to a major multi-million dollar US settlement in the mid-1980s.