Project 4.1 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Project 4.1 - Research Paper Example The result was that people had to be evacuated from their homes, live elsewhere, and had major health problems that were far-reaching and sometimes incurable. Though permission was sought from the Marshall Islands government, the fact remains that the people had to suffer in innumerable ways for a test study, a study that did not seek proper informed consent, nor did it attempt to cure anyone (Skoog, 2003). Because of Bravo and Project 4.1, numerous conspiracy theories abounded, none of which has been proven with concrete evidence. The United States was accused of doing the Bravo launch on purpose by the Marshallese government, who insisted that it was a tactic to be able to study a population exposed to nuclear fallout without risking their own people. Regardless if such a thing is true, reforms followed Project 4.1, though not right away. Over $350 million dollars was awarded to Marshallese people due to the fallout and subsequent sickness (Skoog, 2003). The United States also paid for health care, site cleanup, and other costs associated with the nuclear mess that had become the Marshall Islands, specifically Bikini atoll (Skoog, 2003). However, not all the reforms were monetary. In 1994, President Clinton announced the formation of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (Meslin 1996). This committee is tasked with, among other things, examining the known experiments that took place on human fallout exposure between 1944 and 1974 and to evaluate the ethics of said experiments (Meslin 1996). Other reforms that have occurred since 1994 were that on September 10, 1996, the United Nations overwhelmingly approved the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which will, in effect, end all nuclear testing anywhere in the world (Skoog, 2003). Even though people were exposed to nuclear fallout in an unethical manner, research is now being done to see that such an incident does not occur