French nuclear test condemned

AUCKLAND The French government conducted a nuclear test on May 30 at Fangataufa. Estimated at 110 kilotons, it was one of the largest underground tests ever conducted at the Pacific test site.

Greenpeace nuclear test ban campaigner Stephanie Mills said larger tests had been conducted at Fangataufa since 1988 because of concerns about the ability of Moruroa to contain them adequately.

The size of the test was an indication of France's refusal to listen to the Pacific region's concerns about the environmental impacts of the tests, she said. It was extremely irresponsible of the French to continue large tests at Fangataufa, an atoll equally as fragile as Moruroa.

“The [New Zealand] government has indicated that it will no longer protest over each test, but we certainly will. We believe most New Zealanders will be supporting us, and regret the government's unprincipled change of policy”, she said. -- Greenpeace/Pegasus

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