Moruroa Atoll
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Moruroa (Mururoa, Mururura), also historically known as Aopuni, is an
atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...
which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in
French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...
in the southern
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
. It is located about southeast of
Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...
. Administratively Moruroa Atoll is part of the commune of Tureia, which includes the atolls of Tureia, Fangataufa, Tematangi and Vanavana. France undertook nuclear weapon tests between 1966 and 1996 at Moruroa and Fangataufa, causing international protests, notably in 1974 and 1995. The number of tests performed on Moruroa has been variously reported as 175 and 181.


History

The first recorded visit this atoll was Commander Philip Carteret on HMS ''Swallow'' in 1767, just a few days after he had discovered Pitcairn Island. Carteret named Mururoa "Bishop of Osnaburgh Island". In 1792, the British whaler was wrecked here, and it became known as Matilda's Rocks. Frederick William Beechey visited it in 1826. Early European explorers found that the atoll was not continuously inhabited. In 1826 Beechey found it empty. A visit in 1832 found "dwellings but no inhabitants". A visiting ship in 1834 killed all but three of the inhabitants it found there, and it was unclaimed in 1847. It was briefly inhabited by copra workers in the late nineteenth century, and again from 1942 to 1943 and 1950–52, but has had no permanent inhabitation since.


French nuclear weapons testing

Mururoa, and its sister atoll Fangataufa, were the site of extensive nuclear testing by France between 1966 and 1996, as well as the site of numerous protests by various vessels, including the '' Rainbow Warrior''. The atoll was officially established as a nuclear test site by France on 21 September 1962, when the Direction des Centres d'Expérimentations Nucléaires (DIRCEN) was established to administer the nuclear testing. This followed with the construction of various infrastructures on the atoll commencing in May 1963. The atoll of Hao, to the north-west of Mururoa, was chosen as a support base for the nuclear tests and other operations. Despite objections from some 30 members of the Polynesian Territorial Assembly, the first nuclear test was conducted on 2 July 1966, code named Aldebaran, when a
plutonium Plutonium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is a silvery-gray actinide metal that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four ...
fission bomb was exploded in the lagoon.
Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...
states in a 21st-century study that the explosion sucked all the water from the lagoon, "raining dead fish and mollusks down on the atoll", and that it spread contamination across the Pacific as far as Peru and New Zealand. President
Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...
himself was present at Moruroa on 10 September 1966 when a test was conducted, using a device suspended from a balloon. Most of these tests were conducted on the western end of the atoll, designated as Dindon. Smaller blasts were detonated on the northern end of the atoll, designated as Denise. Three nuclear explosive devices were detonated on
barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...
s, three were air dropped from
bombers A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strategic bombing is ...
, and the rest were suspended from
helium Helium (from ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic, inert gas, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. Its boiling point is ...
filled balloons. A total of 41 atmospheric nuclear tests were conducted at Mururoa between 1966 and 1974. France abandoned atmospheric nuclear testing in 1974 and moved to underground testing in the midst of intense world pressure which was sparked by the New Zealand Government of the time, which sent two frigates in July 1973, HMNZS ''Canterbury'' and ''
Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...
'', to the atoll in protest for a nuclear free Pacific. Shafts were drilled deep into the volcanic rocks underlying the atolls where nuclear devices were detonated. This practice created much controversy as cracking of the atolls was discovered, resulting in fears that the
radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...
material trapped under the atolls would eventually escape and contaminate the surrounding ocean and neighbouring atolls, a case of so-called tired mountain syndrome. A major accident occurred on 25 July 1979 when a test was conducted at half the usual depth because the nuclear device got stuck halfway down the 800 metre shaft. It was detonated and caused a large submarine landslide on the southwest rim of the atoll, causing a significant chunk of the outer slope of the atoll to break loose and causing a tsunami affecting Mururoa and injuring workers. The blast caused a 2 kilometre long and 40 cm wide crack to appear on the atoll. French president
Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...
's decision to run a nuclear test series at Mururoa on 5 September and 2 October 1995, just one year before the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nati ...
was to be signed, caused worldwide protests, including an
embargo Economic sanctions or embargoes are commercial and financial penalties applied by states or institutions against states, groups, or individuals. Economic sanctions are a form of coercion that attempts to get an actor to change its behavior throu ...
of French wine. Riots took place across Polynesia, and the South Pacific Forum threatened to suspend France. These tests were meant to provide France with enough data to improve further nuclear technology without needing additional series of tests. The last nuclear test on Moruroa occurred on 27 December 1995. The test site at Mururoa was dismantled following France's last nuclear test to date, which took place on 27 January 1996 on Fangataufa. In total, 181 explosions took place at Moruroa, 41 of which were atmospheric. However, the total number has been variously reported: nuclear scientists working at the site claim 175 explosions in total took place in the Pacific.


Aftermath

As of October 2005, it is still prohibited to visit Moruroa, according to the
French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...
's president, Oscar Temaru, due to the high levels of radioactive contamination. The atoll is still guarded by French Forces.


Monitoring

A report from 2012 suggested that only 11 of the 20 monitoring system sensors are actually functional, which could mean the atoll could potentially collapse without forewarning of the monitoring system. In February 2021, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research INSERM published a report entitled "Nuclear tests and health - Consequences in French Polynesia". The objective of this study was to establish an assessment of the available international scientific knowledge on the health consequences of the atmospheric nuclear tests conducted by France in French Polynesia, on the general population and former civilian and military workers.


See also

* Bengt Danielsson, a member of the '' Kon-Tiki'' crew; an outspoken critic of nuclear testing * *
France and weapons of mass destruction France is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, but is not known to possess or develop any chemical or biological weapons. France is the only member of the European Union to posse ...
* List of nuclear weapons tests by France *
New Zealand nuclear-free zone In 1984, Prime Minister David Lange banned nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships from using New Zealand ports or entering New Zealand waters. Under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987, territorial sea, ...


References


Further reading

* *


External links

*
Archives sur le Centre d'Expérimentations Nucléaires du Pacifique (C.E.P.) à Mururoa, Hao et Fangataufa

Centre de Documentation et de Recherche sur la Paix et les Conflits


* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20130926093601/http://www.com.univ-mrs.fr/IRD/atollpol/irdpoly/uksalv85.htm Classification of the French Polynesian atolls by Salvat (1985)
France finally agrees to pay damages to nuclear test victims

Mururoa Veterans
{{Authority control Atolls of the Tuamotus French nuclear test sites