The Castle Romeo Detonation, the third largest atom bomb ever tested by the United States, explodes over the Bikini Atoll on March 27, 1954.

A series of bombs half a century ago annihilated the remote Pacific region, disintegrating nearby islands and shaking others up to 124 miles (200 kilometers) away.

(Watch a video of one of the nuclear tests conducted in the Bikini lagoon in 1946.)

A new survey has found that marine life again flourishes on the atoll, including coral that grows 26 feet (8 meters) high with trunks 11 inches (30 centimeters) thick.

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