French government to pay compensation for illness from nuclear testing

The French government announced today that it would compensate anyone who became ill because of the nuclear tests in the Pacific during the 1960s and 70s.

New Zealand supported Pacific countries who wanted France to stop the tests. In 1972 the New Zealand and Australian governments took France to the International Court of Justice to ban the tests. The Court ordered France to ban the tests but France took no notice. In 1973, New Zealand sent two navy ships to the Pacific. A Cabinet minister from the government was on board one ship. They watched the nuclear test from the ship. In 1974, the new French President moved the nuclear tests underground but still continued with testing.

People in French Polynesia and Tahiti complained of illnesses caused by the nuclear tests. Some of these people have died. France has now agreed to pay compensation to those who became ill or to the families of those who have died.

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