18 Apr 2011

Diving set to resume in Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands

1:53 pm on 18 April 2011

Diving is set to resume in Bikini Atoll's historic lagoon after unreliable air links forced a shutdown three years ago.

The lagoon in the Marshall Islands atoll is a divers' paradise as it's littered with ships sunk when Bikini was used to test nuclear bombs 60 years ago.

Because of the radiation the indigenous population has never been able to return there to live.

The Trust Liaison for the Bikini Atoll people, Jack Niedenthal, says a partnership with an Australian entrepreneur means diving can resume next month.

He says the tourist dollar is welcome but it's also a way of educating people about the atoll's past.

"We've always found it very important to teach the rest of the world about what happened up on Bikini so we view it as a way to educate people to not only what the Bikinians have given up but also you know what they still can't have and use so it's nice to be able to get people up there and teach them the story about Bikini and what happened in the 40s and 50s."

Jack Niedenthal.