Radioactivity in French Polynesia

Abstract

A decade after the cessation of atomic weapons testing by the French in the South Pacific, controversy still exists about the environmental impact and long-term consequences of this program. Current concerns range from the delayed effects the testing program had on the health of the Polynesians who worked on the testing program to the continued presence of radiation at the test sites and other atolls and islands in French Polynesia. To further clarify the possible remaining contamination of neighboring, non-test site atolls, the Medical Foundation collected samples from atolls north/northwest of the test sites to survey for residual radioactive contamination. Background: In 1966, the French Government moved its atomic testing to Moruroa and Fangataufa, two uninhabited atolls, in the Tuamotu Archipelago, after Algeria’s independence from France in 1962 made further testing in the Sahara desert untenable. (1,2) This decision to use these atolls was made despite the objections of the local parliament. (3) These two atolls are approximately 41 kilometers apart and are located in the southeastern part of the Tuamotu chain.