Compensation bill for nuclear damage

MILITARY personnel, civilians and populations involved in nuclear tests could receive compensation from the government from next year.

Defence Minister Hervé Morin has announced he is preparing a bill that will involve compensation for French nuclear testing that took place between 1960 and 1996 in Algeria and French Polynesia.

In an interview in Le Parisien-Aujourd’hui Mr Morin said that the bill could be voted on in the early part of 2009.

According to the Ministry of Defence at least 150,000 civilian and military personnel took part in tests – excluding local populations.

Mr Morin said local populations would be equally taken into consideration for compensation for nuclear test that took place both above ground and underground.

“We have fixed a set of illnesses caused by the effects of radiation,” said Mr Morin who added that all those who were exposed to the trials should be compensated.

The Association des Vétérans des Essais Nucléaires which has campaigned for a compensation fund for the victims of nuclear test, said the decision was “a turning point”.

Photo: A nuclear explosion in Mururoa atoll, 1971.
Credit:Afp