Amchitka

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Amchitka Island
Harlequin Beach on Amchitka Island
Harlequin Beach on Amchitka Island
Waters Pacific Ocean
Archipelago Council of Islands ( Alëuten )
Geographical location 51 ° 29 ′  N , 179 ° 5 ′  E Coordinates: 51 ° 29 ′  N , 179 ° 5 ′  E
Amchitka (Alaska)
Amchitka
length 68 km
width 6 km
surface 308.6 km²
Highest elevation 373  m
Residents uninhabited
The locations of the three nuclear weapons tests
The locations of the three nuclear weapons tests

Amchitka is a volcanic, tectonically unstable island in southwestern Alaska . It belongs to the Council of Islands , an archipelago of the Alëuts . Amchitka is about 68 km long and between 3 and 6 km wide. The island has an area of ​​308.6 km² and reaches a height of 373 m above sea level. It has a maritime climate with lots of storms and mostly cloudy skies.

The island, which was inhabited by the Unangan for more than 2500 years , has not been permanently inhabited since 1832.

Together with Alaska, Russia, which was in a precarious financial situation, sold the island to the USA in the Alaska Purchase in 1867 . During World War II it was used as an airfield by the USAAF for the Battle of the Aleutians .

The island was later selected as a test site for underground nuclear weapons by the United States Atomic Energy Commission .

Nuclear weapons tests on Amchitka

The following three tests were carried out on Amchitka:

  • October 29, 1965: Long Shot , an 80 kiloton nuclear weapon
  • October 2, 1969: Milrow , a 1 megaton bomb
  • November 6, 1971: Cannikin , a <5 megaton hydrogen bomb, the largest underground nuclear test the US has ever conducted.

Nuclear weapons tests are no longer conducted on Amchitka today, but the island is monitored for leaks of radioactive substances.

Amchitka and Greenpeace

The tests were controversial. Especially of Cannikin , the last test in 1971 at a depth of 1790 meters, environmentalists feared that it could trigger severe earthquakes and tsunamis .

The preparations for the third atomic bomb test on Amchitka were one of the triggers for the establishment of Greenpeace . Because of this, Greenpeace published a music album at the end of 2009 with the title "Amchitka". It is a recording of the benefit concert on October 16, 1970 to finance the protests against the last test. Greenpeace founding member Irving Stowe was able to win Joni Mitchell as an artist with the support of Joan Baez . Other musicians were James Taylor and Phil Ochs .

literature

  • Dean W. Kohlhoff: Amchitka and the Bomb: Nuclear Testing in Alaska. University of Washington Press, Seattle 2002, ISBN 978-0-295-98255-7 .

Web links

Commons : Amchitka  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ UNEP Islands (English)