Soldiers deliberately exposed to nuclear tests, says report

A brief history of France’s nuclear testing in Algeria: February 13, 1960: The date of the first French atomic bomb tests, dubbed “Gerboise bleue,” goes off in the Algerian Sahara desert near an oasis town called Reggane. This was to be followed by Gerboise blanche, and Gerboise rouge. The last of them was called Gerboise verte, and was detonated on April 25, 1961. November 7, 1961: The Reggane site is abandoned in favour of In Ecker, also in the Sahara. This time, the explosions are underground and number 13 in total. France conducted a total of 210 nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara and in French Polynesia. Source – Le Parisien, February 16, 2010

Soldiers were deliberately exposed to nuclear tests conducted by France in Algeria during the 1960s to “study the physiological and psychological effects of atomic weaponry on humans,” according to a report exposed by the French daily Le Parisian on Tuesday.

The “confidential report”, entitled “The beginnings of the organization and experimentations in the Sahara” were drafted “by one or several military personnel” and “dated 1998” after the tests had ceased, according to Le Parisien.

An excerpt published in the newspaper refers to the “Gerboise verte", code name for the test firings of April 25, 1961. It states that the experiment “should allow for a study of the physiological and psychological effects of atomic weaponry on humans, with the goal obtaining the necessary elements to prepare physically and morally for modern combat.”

Defence Minister Hervé Morin said in an interview with Le Parisien that he had no knowledge of this report, saying that he only become aware of it because of information that came to light during a trial in which victims' families demanded reparations."

Chronology: Four decades of French nuclear testing

He added, "The (radioactive) dosages received during the tests were very low. Nonetheless, he said, "10 million Euros have been allocated [for indemnities]," he added. "We can increase this figure if necessary."

France conducted 210 nuclear tests in total, beginning with the one in the Sahara in 1960 and ending as late as 1996 in French Polynesia. Thousands of soldiers believe themselves to have suffered radioactive contamination, and have demanded justice.