Nuclear tests in Polynesia: Manuel Valls wants "no obstacles" to transparency on the issue

Overseas Minister Manuel Valls stated this Saturday, July 19, from Rangiroa (Friday in French Polynesia), that there should be "no obstacle" to transparency on nuclear power , four years after the opening of military archives decided by the President of the Republic. Rangiroa is an atoll in the Tuamotu, the Polynesian archipelago where France carried out 193 atomic experiments between 1966 and 1996.

"There is absolutely nothing to hide. It is a story that is there, that weighs heavily, that is sometimes painful in terms of health, in terms of compensation, truth and transparency. I am one of those who believe that there should be no obstacles," declared Manuel Valls, who was visiting the country from July 15 to 22.

When it comes to nuclear power, transparency has not always been the watchword of French policy in the Pacific, as demonstrated by numerous examples and testimonies in the report of a parliamentary commission of inquiry into nuclear experiments, made public on June 17.

"The state lied, yes, that's for sure," said Mereana Reid-Arbelot, a pro-independence MP from French Polynesia and rapporteur for the committee.

Among the 45 recommendations of the commission of inquiry is also the removal of the threshold of one millisievert, currently required for compensation for the health consequences of nuclear tests carried out in French Polynesia.

"We are hopeful that most of the recommendations of the commission of inquiry will be implemented, and the most important is the removal of the millisievert criterion," stressed Polynesian President Moetai Brotherson.

The President of the Assembly of French Polynesia, Antony Géros, said he had stressed to Manuel Valls "the need to fundamentally amend the Morin law to ensure acceptable compensation."

"The proposals in the investigation report seem interesting to me. They will give rise to a bill that will be debated. It is the initiative of the National Assembly in a few months, and the government will be paying close attention to its work," assured the Minister for Overseas Territories.

The pro-autonomist opposition, for its part, was not convinced by "this umpteenth commission on the subject," according to MP Moerani Frébault, who laments: "We have no new information, no new scientific document, I don't think that this commission of inquiry has moved things forward in any way whatsoever."