Report: Paris should apologize for Polynesia nuclear testsーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS
france’s parliament has called on the government to apologize for nuclear tests the country conducted decades ago in the South Pacific it also says the compensation law for residents suffering health damage should be amended france conducted more than 190 tests in French Polynesia it began in the 60s and lasted three decades residents and military personnel involved in the experiments have demanded the French government provide compensation they say it’s for the health issues they developed including cancer paris initially denied the effects of radiation exposure on health but in 2010 the government started a system to comprehensively compensate former military personnel and residents who were exposed 87year-old Michelle Karu was a French military nuclear engineer the government recognized him as a victim he has been seeking compensation for his colleagues who have not been certified yet the risk of radiation to individuals was not the risk of people dying on the spot that’s not the case it’s that they would accumulate contamination people who were near the site during the tests and later developed cancer or leukemia are eligible for compensation the National Assembly set up a committee to look into the amount of radiation the victims were exposed to and whether they were compensated it released its findings Tuesday it says residents and personnel were not properly informed of the risks of the tests it also found radiation protection measures to mitigate the health consequences of the radioactive fallout were not implemented or only in a limited manner it recommends expanding the list of diseases eligible for compensation and doing way with the milliseceiver threshold requirement to grant compensation it also calls on the state to add an apology for having repeatedly carried out nuclear tests to a law on French Polynesia’s status the report revealed some of the reality that had been kept quiet and unclear for a long time it should be easier for victims to receive compensation nhk World’s Tamara Ginga is following this story he joins us now from Paris so Ginga the link between nuclear radiation and health issues is well documented why did it take so long for the government to start compensating the victims i think a lot of it had to do with national pride military personnel involved with the tests knew what was really happening but it was difficult for them to speak out as public support for nuclear weapons was and remains high many believe that France became a major power thanks to those weapons so there was concern that revealing the radiation exposure and health impact could taint that achievement it’s also hard to fully understand the situation as the government has kept documents related to the testing secret but things have gradually changed in part because of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster people in French Polynesia who developed cancer or leukemia started to think that the nuclear test might have caused their illness they and others including former military personnel started the victim’s groups around the year 2000 the compensation system began a decade later but only about thousand people have been recognized so far victims groups criticized the eligibility criteria as being too strict ginka getting back to the parliamentary committee that released that report what spurred the National Assembly to set up the group it may have had to do with fears that French Polynesia may try to claim independence president Emanuel Macron visited the territory in 2021 he stopped short of offering an apology but said France owes a debt to French Polynia macron also vowed to speed up probes and compensate the local population more swiftly experts say that Paris wants to improve relations with the territory where forces seeking independence have been expanding in recent years the demand for independence is intensifying because of the fact that France decided to conduct nuclear tests without the consent of people in Polynia therefore one of the reasons for independence from France is to be liberated from a power a state that makes decisions of this kind the nuclear legacy continues to affect politics in Polynia regardless of the motivation it does appear that French lawmakers are taking the issue more seriously how are they planning to help people suffering health issues due to the nuclear testing members of the committee say they will work toward improving the system including through legal revisions starting in autumn but the victims are still worried french Polynesia have been forced to pay a big sacrifice in order for France to become a nuclear power a sacrifice still being failed today people are waiting to see if the French parliamentary report will result in a step toward reconciliation between the two sides
A French parliamentary report says the government should apologize for nuclear tests conducted in the South Pacific and amend a compensation law for people suffering health impacts. NHK World’s Tamura Ginga explains the history and possible motivations.
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