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From 1966 to 1974, France conducted 41 above-ground test of nuclear weapons on the Moruroa atoll, including this one of a 0.9-megaton giant in the Licorne test on 3 July 1970. CTBTO/SCIENCE SOURCE
France grossly underestimated radioactive fallout from atom bomb tests, study finds
Mar. 11, 2021 , 2:30 PM
From 1966 to 1974, France blew up 41 nuclear weapons in above-ground tests in French Polynesia, the collection of 118 islands and atolls that is part of France. The French government has long contended that the testing was done safely. But a new analysis of hundreds of documents declassified in 2013 suggests the tests exposed 90% of the 125,000 people living in French Polynesia to radioactive fallout roughly 10 times as many people as the French government has estimated.
Early nuclear tests in French Polynesia impacted 110,000 people, says new report downtoearth.org.in - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from downtoearth.org.in Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Around 110,000 people in the South Pacific were affected by the radioactive fallout of French nuclear testing, according to a new independent investigation. Even more damningly, the report argues that France may have even downplayed the true impact of its nuclear tests carried out in one of its overseas territories in an attempt to bury the past.
At least 193 nuclear bomb tests were blasted over French Polynesia between 1966 to 1996. This included at least 46 atmospheric tests, nuclear explosions that take place in the atmosphere, as opposed to underground. On the other side of the planet, there were also early French nuclear tests being carried out in the Sahara, the effects of which have recently come back to haunt France in the form of a radioactive Saharan dust cloud.