Enewetak
Landsat 8 satellite image of Enewetak Atoll. The crater formed by the Ivy Mike nuclear test can be seen near the north cape of the atoll, with the smaller Castle Nectar crater adjoining it.
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 Enewetak
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| Geography | |
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| Location | North Pacific |
| Coordinates | 11°30′N 162°20′E / 11.500°N 162.333°ECoordinates: 11°30′N 162°20′E / 11.500°N 162.333°E |
| Archipelago | Ralik |
| Total islands | 40 |
| Area | 5.85 km2 (2.26 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 5 m (16 ft) |
| Administration | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 853 (1998) |
| Ethnic groups | Marshallese |
Enewetak Atoll (or Eniwetok Atoll, sometimes also spelled Eniewetok; Marshallese: Ānewetak, [æ̯ænʲee̯ɔ̯ɔ͡ɛɛ̯dˠɑk], or Āne-wātak, [æ̯ænʲee̯-ɒ̯ɒ͡ææ̯dˠɑk]) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with its 850 people forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. With a land area total less than 5.85 square kilometres (2.26 sq mi), it's not higher than 5 metres and surrounds a deep central lagoon, 80 kilometres (50 mi) in circumference. It is the second-westernmost atoll of the Ralik Chain and is 305 kilometres (190 mi) west from Bikini Atoll.
Nuclear testing by the US totaling more than 30 megaton TNT took place during the cold war; in 1977–1980, a concrete dome (the Runit Dome) was built on Runit Island to deposit radioactive soil and debris.
The Runit Dome is deteriorating and could be breached by a typhoon, though the sediments in the lagoon are even more radioactive than those which are contained.
The U.S. government referred to the atoll as "Eniwetok" until 1974, when it changed its official spelling to "Enewetak" (along with many other Marshall Islands place names, to more properly reflect their pronunciation by the Marshall Islanders).
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