Radiological Impact of Atmospheric Nuclear Weapons Tests at Mururoa and Fangataufa Atolls to Populations in Oceania, South America and Africa: Comparison with French Polynesia

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the potential radiological impact of atmospheric nuclear weapons tests conducted in [1966][1967][1968][1969][1970][1971][1972][1973][1974] at Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls on populations in Oceania, South America and Africa. Methods: Results of measurements of total beta(β)-concentrations in filtered air and 131 I activity concentrations in locally produced cow's milk in Oceania, South America and Africa after the tests were compared with those in French Polynesia. Radiation doses due to external irradiation and thyroid doses due to 131 I intake with milk by local populations were also compared. Results: Higher total β-concentrations in filtered air, 131 I activity concentrations in locally produced milk and radiation doses to local population were, in general, observed in French Polynesia than in other countries in the southern hemisphere. However, for specific years during the testing period, the radiological impact to South America was found to be similar or slightly higher than that to Tahiti. The resulting thyroid doses in the considered countries were lower than those in French Polynesia with two exceptions: thyroid doses due to 131 I intake with cow's milk for 1-y old child in 1968 were higher in Peru (0.35 mGy) and in Madagascar (0.30 mGy) than in Tahiti (0.25 mGy). However, the populations outside French Polynesia received doses lower than those from the natural sources of radiation. Conclusion: According to the current knowledge in radiation epidemiology, it is very unlikely that nuclear fallout due to French nuclear tests had a measurable radiological and health impact outside French Polynesia.

Human Rights Fallout of Nuclear Detonations: Reevaluating ‘Threshold Thinking’ in Assisting Victims of Nuclear Testing

“…Scientists at the University of Baja California discovered elevated levels of radioactivity in fish caught along Mexico's Pacific coast (Siwatibau & Williams, 1982). Fallout from French tests was also detected elsewhere in Latin American (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and French Guiana) and Africa (Madagascar, Réunion Island and South Africa) (Basson et al, 1970;Drozdovitch et al, 2021;IAEA, 1998).…”

“…In the Pacific territories it controlled, including French Polynesia, the French government collected data on radiation levels haphazardly, using not its civilian National Radiation Laboratory (as in metropolitan France), but military institutions involved with the test program (Ahmed et al, 2021; Danielsson & Danielsson, 1986; Drozdovitch et al, 2021; French MFA, 1973). The data has been closely guarded and revealed only fragmentarily following investigative reporting or political pressure (Barrillot, 2007; Henley, 1998).…”

“…Scott (1999) notes that state social policy often limits what officials ‘see’ through disinterested, actuarial models, simplifying human complexity into neat grids and lists. A recent study by INSERM and NIH researchers showed that fallout from French Pacific tests had extended into ‘Oceania, South America and Africa’, but that ‘it is very unlikely’ that it ‘had a measurable radiological and health impact outside French Polynesia’ (Drozdovitch et al, 2021, p. 801). Note that the researchers do not deny that exposure to radiation would have a negative health impact, just that it would not be ‘measureable’.…”

“…They found that 'approximately 110,000 people … almost the entire [French] Polynesian population at the time' would have received individual effective doses of more than 1 mSv as a result of fallout from the atmospheric tests (Philippe & Statius,; see also Ahmed et al, 2021). Researchers associated with the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) and US National Institutes of Health (NIH) have also recently published studies, based on official data, showing fallout extended throughout French Polynesia (de Vathaire et al, 2010;Drozdovitch et al, 2008Drozdovitch et al, , 2020INSERM, 2018), 'Oceania, South America and Africa' (Drozdovitch et al, 2021).…”

“…131–139; see also Ahmed et al, 2021). Researchers associated with the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) and US National Institutes of Health (NIH) have also recently published studies, based on official data, showing fallout extended throughout French Polynesia (de Vathaire et al, 2010; Drozdovitch et al, 2008, 2020; INSERM, 2018), ‘Oceania, South America and Africa’ (Drozdovitch et al, 2021).…”