Bikini atomic experiments The Bikini Atomic Experiments were a series of nuclear and thermonuclear tests conducted on Bikini Atoll in the Bikini Islands . The experiments were part of the United States ' research into the full effects of the atomic bomb , including post - detonation radioactive fallout . The first tests were conducted under the name Operation Crossroads . Preparation . During World War II , Bikini Atoll was home to a small Japanese radar installation . In 1945 , the last year of fighting , the U . S . landed a small force to secure the site . The battle was brief and had no strategic significance . As the war ended , the United States decided that due to its remoteness , Bikini Atoll would be suitable for testing nuclear devices . Shortly before Christmas 1945 it was selected as the site of the world ' s fourth and fifth atomic bomb detonations . ( The first atomic bomb was detonated at the Trinity Site in New Mexico , and the second and third bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II . ) The U . S . government promised the atoll residents that the relocation would be temporary and that they could return to their island in a couple of months . The crew of the USS LST 861 temporarily evacuated the 167 residents to the Rongerik Atoll . To prepare the island and the atoll for testing the United States Naval Construction Battalion ( better known as the Seabee s ) was flown in to help establish a credible base on the island . Several derelict tanks , bulldozers , and other military machinery were placed on the island to test the ability of such vehicles to withstand nuclear attack . The Air Force left 150 airplanes on the island ' s airstrip for testing purposes as well . In addition to military equipment , the United States Navy moved 250 naval vessels to the atoll , including the " Pennsylvania " , " New York " , " Arkansas " , " Nevada " , " Saratoga " , " Independence " , " Nagato " ( a Japanese battleship ) , and the Prinz Eugen ( a German cruiser ) to test the durability of ships to withstand a nuclear impact . Lab animals were also purchased and placed on several ships , and would later be tested for radiation poisoning . In the United States , the general public grew worried over the planned testing . Some people worried that the bomb ' s power would be felt all the way back in the United States . Others believed the bomb would create a hole in the earth . To help ease these fears , the Navy created several information packets and began broadcasting over " Radio Bikini " in an effort to calm the public ' s fears and rally support for the tests . During final preparations for the first explosion , the displaced islanders began to protest their move , but they were unsuccessful in preventing the test . Tests . The first atomic bomb to be detonated at Bikini was code - named " Able " , a bomb similar in most respects to " Fat Man , " which was dropped on Nagasaki . The B - 29 designated to drop Able was named " Dave ' s Dream , " and on July 1 , 1946 , at about 8 : 45 AM , the first detonation of a nuclear ordnance during a time of peace occurred . Of the animals left on board the ships at anchor in Bikini Lagoon , approximately 10 % died instantly . The Naval vessels managed to withstand the blast for the most part , but many were destroyed during Test " Baker " on July 25 . In the coming years , some twenty additional bomb tests would be conducted before the United States government officially returned control of the islands over to their natives in 1957 . The largest test , Castle Bravo , also proved to be a large radiation fallout disaster : ashes from the explosion flew miles into inhabited islands , putting nuclear fallout into the public minds of many . The 1 March 1954 test exposed a Japanese fishing boat , " Daigo Fukuryū Maru " , to radioactive fallout , resulting in 11 of the boat ' s 23 crewmembers dying from radiation sickness . Aftermath . Shortly after the announcement that the islands were safe , a group of the native people left their makeshift home to return to Bikini , but were evacuated ten years later after some developed radiation poisoning from Cesium - 137 , including thyroid cancer , ( some sources also state Strontium - 90 ) , a remnant of the radioactive fallout . As of 2009 , the islands remain uninhabitable , and many of the displaced natives now reside in the Carolines and Marshall Islands in the Western Pacific ; also some live in California , and in Nevada . The US Department of Energy , along with the representatives from the government of the Marshall Islands , sends scientists to the atoll for temporary stays to study the island ' s environment and measure residual levels of radiation . The researchers grow a small vegetable garden and send the produce to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for testing . The US and Marshall Islands ' governments still advise that nothing harvested from the island be eaten . Movie . The movies " Bikini , The Atomic Cafe , and The Atom Island " illustrate preparations for the tests , and the effects of the tests . The documentary " Radio Bikini " shows another vision of what happened in Bikini . Music and Video . The second movement of the video opera " Three Tales " of Steve Reich concerns the atomic tests in the Bikini Atoll . The video part of the opera includes images of the US Army presenting the project to the local people of Bikini , the trip of animals for testing and the explosion of the atomic bomb .