Nuclear Savage: The Islands of Secret Project 4.1

Originally broadcast on PBS, Adam Horowitz's award-winning documentary retraces the long-secret U.S. government program known as Project 4.1, which measured the effects of nuclear-weapon-borne radiation on people in the Marshall Islands. Drawing on declassified footage, Nuclear Savage details how an unexpected development in the 1954 Bikini Atoll nuclear tests resulted in unforeseen radioactive fallout on populated islands outside the testing range. The U.S. government then used the exposed residents as guinea pigs to measure the effects of atomic radiation on civilians. While the official line out of Washington was pure fabrication—insisting that no lingering illnesses had been detected—the Marshall Islanders faced years of cancer, birth defects, and other health tragedies. American servicemen who witnessed the explosions were also affected, and some later succumbed to cancer and other diseases. The lack of public outrage during the 1950s is stunning—one 1957 newsreel describes the Marshall Islanders as “savages by our standards”—while the egregious level of squalor and poverty in today's Marshall Islands suggests that the dislocations and disruptions created by the post–World War II American military were never properly rectified. Also featuring an abridged hour-long version on the disc, this well-researched documentary with extremely insightful interviews about a shameful chapter in U.S. history is recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (P. Hall)