Technically this waste became the problem of the Marshall Islands when they became independent in 1979. That was the time to negotiate with the US about the remaining waste. This is similar to how Chernobyl is a Ukrainian issue.
That said, the islanders still have a lot of options. As a free and independent nation, they own the waste with all it's problems BUT also with all it's advantages.
Call the Iranians, the North Koreans, the Indians, the Pakistanis and anyone else with cash and ambition (ISIS, the Saudis?). Tell them you have 30 olympic sized pools worth of plutonium-containing waste and you're holding an auction for it on April 1st next year. More than enough for 1000 dirty bombs or maybe even a few high yield A-bombs if they can be bothered to refine it.
Then watch the western world beat a path to your door to talk about how much they want to take the same material for "safe keeping" and how the "global community" is "excited to help".
What was it Churchill said: "You can rely on the US (the western world) to do the right thing; once they have exhausted every other option".
I agree if by 'beat a bath to your door' you meant - send a battle ship or two, close down all trade routes to and from the islands and declare it a terror state, in need of freedom and nukilear mat extraction. Sounds more plausible.
Another idea to "force" US hand is to make it their problem in other ways. Dig it up, and threaten to leave it / break it on a place where currents flow towards continental United States.
Of course this should never be done, as it is some sort of eco-terrorism, but is one of the many ways the US can have their hands forced.
Edit: in case this is not clear, I am never advocating for something like this to happen. But it is always a stupid idea to leave potentially lethal and dangerous materials on the land of a place you've scarred and destroyed and which doesn't want it at all.
>Another idea to "force" US hand is to make it their problem in other ways. Dig it up, and threaten to leave it / break it on a place where currents flow towards continental United States.
It's not wise for small nations to give big nations the bird like that when there are other options. GP's suggestion is much more tactful because nobody worth taking seriously is going to argue with the idea of selling property to the highest bidder whereas dumping stuff in the ocean is generally frowned upon by everyone.
> Dig it up, and threaten to leave it / break it on a place where currents flow towards continental United States.
Declaring war on the United States with a threat of intentional nuclear warfare against its population would be a particularly bad idea. That'll get your sovereignty revoked very quickly via military occupation.
The response to what I said of course is: yeah but the US is doing a bad thing. That's correct and it changes absolutely nothing about the fact that declaring nuclear war on the US, declaring the intention to try to harm its people with nuclear material, is a bad idea. Fairness is never going to exist between a superpower and weaker nations, it never has, it never will. The superpower dictates the terms in nearly all cases.
> Isn't there an old film where a small island declares independence from the US, declares war on the US and then surrenders after 5 minutes to get aid?
I feel like it was an episode/arc in The West Wing.
It does amaze me when these things come up. It's like everyone wants to avoid paying the bill (I understand that). But if no one pays, the problem will be vastly more than the cost of the bill. So why don't people just sigh and say "we'll pay our share if the EU and China agree to contribute the same"!? Given the tininess of the sums compared to the budgets of the groups involved, its not rocket science.
I was amazed more countries were not willing to contribute to replacing the Chernobyl sarcophagus. If it starts leaking, everyone is will lost 100s of billions, but a few billion is too much to avoid that!?
That said, the islanders still have a lot of options. As a free and independent nation, they own the waste with all it's problems BUT also with all it's advantages.
Call the Iranians, the North Koreans, the Indians, the Pakistanis and anyone else with cash and ambition (ISIS, the Saudis?). Tell them you have 30 olympic sized pools worth of plutonium-containing waste and you're holding an auction for it on April 1st next year. More than enough for 1000 dirty bombs or maybe even a few high yield A-bombs if they can be bothered to refine it.
Then watch the western world beat a path to your door to talk about how much they want to take the same material for "safe keeping" and how the "global community" is "excited to help".
What was it Churchill said: "You can rely on the US (the western world) to do the right thing; once they have exhausted every other option".