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A French parliamentary report released on Tuesday recommends that Paris apologise to French Polynesia for the detrimental effects of nuclear tests conducted there over three decades, which resulted in harmful radiation exposure for tens of thousands of islanders.
From 1966 onward, France conducted 193 nuclear tests in French Polynesia, primarily at the Moruroa and Fangataufa atolls, to develop its atomic weapons. These included both atmospheric and underground tests, leading to severe health consequences that have been largely overlooked.
The tests remain a source of profound bitterness in French Polynesia, viewed as evidence of colonial disregard for the lives of the islanders.
The parliamentary inquiry stated that it “has strengthened the committee’s conviction that a request for forgiveness from France to French Polynesia is necessary.”
The report emphasises that this apology is not merely symbolic but a “fundamental step in the process of reconciliation between French Polynesia and the State” and should be incorporated into a 2004 law on French Polynesia’s semi-autonomous status. Residents of the South Pacific islands are also seeking compensation for radiation victims.
An investigative website, Disclose, citing declassified French military documents, reported in March that the fallout from nearly 200 tests was far more extensive than authorities had previously admitted. Disclose also noted that only a few dozen civilians have received compensation for radiation exposure since the tests concluded in 1996.
