A French parliamentary commission of inquiry has taken MPs back 60 years and 15,000 kilometers from Paris to French Polynesia – a group of islands spread over a territory as vast as Europe. It was here that France became a nuclear power, detonating 193 bombs between 1966 and 1996. Forty-six of these were atmospheric explosions, sending radioactive clouds drifting in the winds and contaminating the entire territory and its population, nearly 120,000 people at the time. The residents were not warned.
This turbulent chapter is what the parliamentary inquiry, focused on France’s nuclear testing policy and led by MP Didier le Gac and French Polynesia MP Mereana Reid Arbelot, has sought to bring to light. The commission is expected to present its findings by the end of June. Within six months, the 30 MPs who make up the commission heard from more than 40 political leaders, military officials, scientists, researchers, victims and representatives of veterans’ organizations and civilian groups, with the aim of answering a series of questions. What were the social, economic, environmental and health consequences of these explosions?
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