Every man, woman and child from Bikini -- 3,470 people to be exact -- this month received 29 dollars from the Bikini Atoll dive program.

It's the fourth year that the islanders, displaced since 1946 by US nuclear tests, have benefited from international scuba divers venturing to this remote necklace of coral islands to dive on the fleet of World War II vessels that lie on the lagoon bottom.

The total payment of approximately 100,000 dollars represents half the profits from the dive program with another 100,000 dollars used to provide supplemental food for displaced islanders living on nearby islands.

The Bikinians launched their dive operation in the mid-1990s in an effort to turn a liability into an asset, according to Bikini liaison official Jack Niedenthal.

"This is our fourth year of payments," he said. "The money always goes directly to the community."

Niedenthal said the Bikinians had benefitted by about 800,000 dollars from the diving program over the past four years, with increased profits forecast for next year when a new air service linking Australia with Majuro is expected to bump up the number of Australian divers.

The 1946 nuclear tests sent more than a dozen warships and submarines to the bottom of the 170 foot lagoon, including the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga and the Nagato, which was the flagship of Japanese Admiral Yamamoto.

Today, they are sought-after dive attractions that bring divers from as far away as Europe.

With scientific reports showing that radiation exposure on the islands is minimal, provided visitors don^1t eat locally grown food, divers have readily paid top dollar to visit this former ground zero for 23 US nuclear tests.

In 1954, Bikini was the testing ground for Bravo, the largest hydrogen bomb ever tested by the United States.

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