Abstract

J.M. Collin "Past and Current Consequences of Nuclear Tests - Highlight of the French Nuclear Tests and Consequences of the Nuclear Ban Treaty"

After years of silence and hidden information, the reality on the health effects on the veterans of French nuclear tests was finally unveiled. A law was introduced (Morin Law) to help all these people (100 000 soldiers and civilians) to receive an economic support. The law is far from being perfect, but it was the first step made by French authorities, before the second one in Tahiti when president Hollande (2016) recognized that nuclear tests had an impact on the environment. Since then some clean-up actions have been carried out, but only in Polynesia… France has never paid a real attention on the Algerian territories contaminated by 17 nuclear tests. In reality, the "Algerian case" is beginning to be recognised following the uncovering of new information.

The situation is therefore complex and very different on these two territories, the French one and the one, which became Algerian. The creation of the treaty banning nuclear weapons with the articles about “victim assistance and environmental remediation” (art6) and “International cooperation and assistance” (art7) will thus necessarily create a new dialogue or a new crisis between Algeria and France, as this topic is still taboo between those two states. Lastly, it should not be excluded that States from Africa, Oceania or Latin America, in order to comply with the obligations created by this treaty, will enter into a new dialogue with France. They will want to know precisely the fallout from the French atmospheric nuclear tests conducted between 1960 and 1974.