Marshallese fear impact of radioactive waste

10:41 am on 28 July 2015

There are concerns that residential areas of Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands have been washed over with radioactive waste, after the island was hit by Typhoon Nangka earlier this month.

The atoll is home to the Runit concrete dome, constructed in 1979 to temporarily store radioactive waste produced from nuclear testing by the United States military during the Cold War.

The typhoon caused significant damage to homes and infrastructure on the atoll when it hit on July the 5th.

Residents have expressed concerns about cracks which are slowly developing in the dome's concrete surface.

Our correspondent Giff Johnson says the storm would have churned up lagoon sediment which is laced with radioactive waste.

"Did this stir up a lot of the plutonium and radioactive waste that's in the sediment, because actually what is more radioactive than what's in the dome is what's in the lagoon sediment."

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Photo: supplied