Tahiti: Disappointment over French nuke reporting

Thursday, 5 October 2006, 4:54 am
Press Release: Radio New Zealand International

Disappointment in Tahiti over French nuke reporting

French Polynesian officials say they are disappointed with their meeting with the visiting French defence ministry’s representative for nuclear safety, Marcel Jurien de la Graviere.

The visit is part of talks in the aftermath of the nuclear weapons tests in the South Pacific which France has described as clean.

The officials says they failed to get the information they sought and Mr de la Graviere refused to release the list of the 120,000 people involved in the tests, saying this cannot be done for privacy reasons.

Mr de la Graviere is expected to disclose more technical information on the effects of the tests.

The publisher of the Tahiti Pacifique monthly, Alex du Prel, says some of these documents may uncover part of the truth.

“The only reason he is here is because he said he would come back. Last time, he came, people were disappointed that he didn’t’ bring proper information. He came with ’oh, everything is ok, everything is beautiful’. And while he is back now, he has apparently papers which say that everything just wasn’t very beautiful.”

Alex du Prel.

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