Sunday, January 29, 2012
THEN
Jan, 29, 1996, French President Jacques Chirac announces a definitive end to the French government’s testing of nuclear weapons. The announcement comes a day after a nuclear weapon six times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima is exploded by France during nuclear testing conducted in the South Pacific. The abrupt decision by the French president to end the nuclear testing program comes amidst a significant backlash from groups both within France and internationally—with particularly intense opposition in New Zealand, Australia and parts of the South Pacific. During the test at Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls in the South Pacific, the French Navy arrests Greenpeace campaigners and confiscates their equipment.
NOW
Earlier this month, a bill was passed by the French Senate returning the South Pacific atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa to French Polynesia by 2014. In 1964, Moruroa and Fangataufa were ceded to the French government and, over span of 30 years, the French government conducted more than 200 nuclear tests at the sites. The bill is expected to face significant opposition in the French National Assembly. The head of the Moruroa e tatou veterans group, Roland Oldham, has expressed concern that under the existing bill, the return of the Atolls are contingent upon the French military maintaining sole authority over inspection of the sites for evaluating the effects of nuclear testing from previous years.
