On the 47th anniversary of the biggest American hydrogen bomb test, a top United States government official thanked Marshall Islanders for their nuclear test sacrifices.

The Marshall Islands government told islanders marking the anniversary its filed a petition with the US Congress, claiming an additional 2.7 billion dollars to fund compensation payments and medical care for nuclear victims of the bomb test at Bikini.

Speaking at a commemoration event in Majuro, US Ambassador Michael Senko told the islanders neither words, nor money could fully repay them but their sacrifices had helped the free world win the Cold War and triumph over toalitarianism.

(06:55:07 AEST)