[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 24, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H811-H812]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   FRENCH NUCLEAR TESTING IS LEAKING RADIOACTIVITY INTO SOUTH PACIFIC

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from American Samoa [Mr. Faleomavaega] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, since September of last year, France 
has resumed detonating nuclear bombs in coral atolls in the South 
Pacific, defying worldwide protests against this crime against nature 
and against the lives and welfare of some 27 million men, women, and 
children who live in the Pacific region.
  In deciding to resume nuclear testing, the French President Jacques 
Chirac promised the international community there would be no 
environmental consequences from their nuclear tests, as radioactive 
substances would not be discharged into the ocean and the surrounding 
areas.
  Mr. Speaker, despite the intense fears of millions of residents in 
the Pacific, France's nuclear bomb detonations over the past 30 years 
are laying the foundation for a major environmental tragedy like 
Chernobyl. The French Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly stated that 
radioactive substances from their nuclear tests are trapped in the 
ground and there is no danger of radioactive contamination.
  Yesterday, France's big lie was revealed.
  After a Japanese newspaper broke the story yesterday, media reports 
confirm that France now acknowledges that radioactive materials have, 
indeed, leaked into the sea from their recent nuclear tests at Moruroa 
Atoll. Radioactive iodine-131, which is created by nuclear explosions 
and causes cancer in humans, was detected by French officials after the 
tests but was apparently covered up. Only after a French nuclear 
specialist mistakenly revealed the information during a disarmament 
conference held right here in Washington last November--that the 
radioactive leakage was brought to light.
  Mr. Speaker, this just confirms what we all know. The French 
Government cannot be trusted to tell the truth. One wonders what other 
monstrosities they have been hiding in the name of national interest.
  Although the French routinely deny that their nuclear tests threaten 
the health and safety of Pacific residents or endanger the region's 
fragile marine environment, documents from France's Atomic Energy 
Commission confirm that at least three tests in the past have also led 
to radioactive contamination at Moruroa Atoll. Scientific missions to 
Moruroa--although severely restricted by French authorities in to their 
access to test sites, test data and time for study--have verified the 
presence of radioactive isotopes such as iodine-131, cesium-134, 
tritium, krypton-85, and plutonium. The presence of these radioactive 
materials substantiate fears that leakage, venting, and accidental 
dispersal of radioactive materials have occurred at France's test 
facilities in the two island atolls in the Pacific.
  Despite France's assurances to the contrary, these reports and the 
events of yesterday confirm that France's underground testing program 
cannot ensure that radioactive contamination is fully contained.
  While France's Defense Minister and Foreign Minister denounce 
accounts that Moruroa Atoll has suffered deep cracks and fissuring from 
the nuclear testing, a confidential French Defense Ministry study 
directly contradicts them. As reported in today's Washington Post,

       The French Government has been aware, at least since 1979, 
     that Moruroa's underwater basalt foundation is fractured in 
     several places.
       The report described the effects of an accident in 1979 in 
     which the French detonated a 150-kiloton weapon only 1,300 
     feet below the surface of the lagoon. The blast was supposed 
     to occur at 2,600 feet, but the bomb got stuck halfway down 
     the test shaft, and the French detonated it there rather 
     than risk trying to move it. The explosion blasted loose 
     more than 130 million cubic yards of rock and coral, 
     causing a tidal wave that injured several French 
     scientists and guards. The document also described 
     underwater avalanches that followed three tests as proof 
     the growing number of tests was posing serious 
     environmental risks to Mururoa Atoll.

  Mr. Speaker, with French President Chirac expected in Washington next 
week, I would ask our colleagues to join me in urging that the French 
Government stop this madness and immediately cease nuclear testing in 
the South Pacific.
  Mr. Speaker, I've said it earlier and I'll say it again--the French 
Government has already exploded some 177 nuclear bombs in this atoll in 
the Pacific, and Prime Minister John Majors of Great Britain and our 
own President have given only lip service to these acts of atrocity 
against the marine environment and against the lives of human beings 
who live in that part of the world.
  Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the following information:

               Radioactive Leak Found at France's Mururoa

       Tokyo (Reuter)--A Japanese newspaper said on Tuesday that 
     France had detected a toxic radioactive substance near 
     Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific after resuming nuclear 
     testing there last September.
       Yomiuri Shimbun, quoting unnamed sources close to the 
     Geneva Conference on Disarmament, said the radioactive 
     substance called ``Iodine 131'' was detected near Mururoa 
     Atoll.
       The sources said a specialist from the French Nuclear 
     Energy Agency disclosed the radiation leakage at an 
     unofficial meeting in Washington last November of experts 
     from prospective signatories of a Comprehensive Test Ban 
     Treaty.
       The French expert, however, did not make it clear exactly 
     when the radioactive substance was detected.
       After making the disclosure, the French expert asked the 
     other participants to ``forget what they had just heard,'' 
     saying the data was ``extremely confidential,'' the sources 
     were quoted as saying.
       Quoting one source close to the Washington meeting, Yomiuri 
     said the radiation level of the substance was so low that it 
     would not harm humans.
       But when Iodine 131, commonly detected after frequent 
     nuclear tests, is taken into the human body, it could cause 
     cancer, Yomiuri said.
       France has defied worldwide protests and conducted five 
     nuclear weapons tests in the South Pacific since last 
     September.
     
[[Page H812]]
     
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                 Clinton Urges Action on Nuclear Treaty

                         (By Stephanie Nebehay)

       Geneva (Reuter)--President Clinton pressed Tuesday for a 
     quick resolution to talks on an underground nuclear test ban 
     treaty so the text could go to the U.N. General Assembly by 
     June but India demanded nuclear powers first give assurances 
     to eliminate nuclear weapons, Clinton said.
       But the Group of 21 countries, which includes nuclear 
     ``threshold'' states India and Pakistan, criticized the major 
     powers for refusing to open new negotiations on a nuclear 
     disarmament treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons.
       The 38-state negotiations, sponsored by the United Nations, 
     were overshadowed last year by France staging five 
     underground nuclear tests in the South Pacific, and two 
     blasts by China.
       ``A Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is vital to 
     constrain both the spread and further development of nuclear 
     weapons,'' Clinton said in a message read by John 
     Holum, director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament 
     Agency.
       ``Now, urgent national political decisions must complement 
     your painstaking work in Geneva, so that the Conference can 
     forward a completed Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to the U.N. 
     General Assembly by June.''
       In New Delhi, Foreign Ministry spokesman Arif Khan told 
     reporters India's conditions to support the CTBT were 
     unchanged despite Western pressure.
       He said India's stand was clearly stated in Prime Minister 
     P.V. Narasimha Rao's address to the recent summit of non-
     aligned countries.
       India exploded a nuclear device in 1974 but says its 
     nuclear program is peaceful. It declined to sign the Nuclear 
     Non-proliferation Treaty last year, saying the pact 
     discriminated against non-nuclear powers.
       ``A handful of nations perpetuated their monopoly over the 
     means of mutually assured destruction by the indefinite 
     extension of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty,'' Rao told 
     the non-aligned summit.
       ``They did so without even obtaining an expression of 
     intent to eventually abolish all nuclear weapons as envisaged 
     in that treaty itself.''
       India says it wants both the CTBT and a proposed convention 
     on the cut-off of fissile material for weapons.
       ``While the aim of both these treaties are laudable, and we 
     support them wholeheartedly, we must ensure that we do not 
     lose yet another opportunity to obtain a commitment to 
     universal and comprehensive nuclear disarmament,'' Rao said.
       But Holum told a news briefing in Geneva that Clinton's 
     message ``made clear that this is a very high priority 
     commitment of the United States. We are dedicated to 
     completion of the test ban on time. We believe that will 
     happen.''
       Holum, noting some states wanted to link the CTBT to a 
     timetable for totally eliminating nuclear weapons, warned in 
     his speech: `` . . . I must acknowledge that the CTBT is at 
     risk here in Geneva.''
       He said it was imperative to report the complete text of 
     the CTBT to the General Assembly by June ``at the very 
     latest.''
       This would allow governments to examine the text, endorse 
     it at the General Assembly and open it for signature in 
     September.
       All five declared nuclear powers: Britain, China, France, 
     Russia and the United States are taking part in the talks.
       Holum said the United States continued to believe a 
     moratorium on testing, as observed by Washington, was the 
     most positive way to support the negotiations.
       But he also said the latest blasts might help forge 
     consensus around a CTBT, which would extend the 1963 Moscow 
     treaty banning tests in the atmosphere and under water.
       Asked whether a further French underground blast, due 
     before May, might be harmful to the negotiations, Holum 
     replied: ``I would think it would be just the opposite.
       ``This is our chance to accomplish a nuclear CTBT. This 
     window of opportunity may not stay open forever.
       ``If countries are concerned by those tests, it seems to 
     me that a CTBT is the answer, not the problem.''
       Meanwhile, the Group of 21, in a statement read by Peru, 
     called for immediately establishing a special ad-hoc 
     committee, under the conference, to negotiate a nuclear 
     disarmament treaty.
       Pakistani Ambassador Munir Akram, in a separate speech, 
     said the Geneva conference faced a ``moment of truth'' at a 
     time when there were no confrontations between the nuclear 
     powers.
       ``It is, therefore, most disturbing that most of the 
     nuclear weapon states seem to be unprepared to consider the 
     measures required to lead to the complete elimination of 
     nuclear weapons.
       ``Some of them, while reducing their nuclear arsenals 
     quantitatively, are upgrading them qualitatively,'' Akram 
     added.
                                                                    ____


               [From the Washington Post, Jan. 24, 1996]

 France Acknowledges Radioactive Leakage in South Pacific Nuclear Tests

                         (By William Drozdiak)

       Paris.--France acknowledged today that radioactive 
     materials have leaked into the sea from its nuclear tests in 
     the South Pacific but insisted that the quantities were so 
     minimal that they posed no threat to the environment.
       The confirmation that radioactive elements such as iodine-
     131 have seeped into the lagoon near the Mururoa test site 
     seemed likely to revive the storm of protests that followed 
     President Jacques Chirac's decision to conduct a final series 
     of underground nuclear explosions before signing a global 
     test-ban treaty.
       Japanese Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda said he will 
     demand a full explanation from France about the nature of the 
     leaks. Other countries in the Pacific region, notably 
     Australia and New Zealand, are expected to follow suit, 
     French officials said.
       Defying international criticism, France has carried out 
     five nuclear tests since September to verify a new warhead 
     and to perfect simulation technology that will be used to 
     monitor reliability of its nuclear weapons. A final test will 
     take place next month before the test site is shut down 
     permanently, French officials said.
       But the latest accounts of radioactive leakage at the 
     Mururoa test site have raised questions about the credibility 
     of the French government's arguments that the nuclear 
     explosions present no environmental menace.
       ``There is no way to assess whether their is a coverup 
     because the French do now allow independent verification,'' 
     said Tom Cochran, a nuclear-test specialist at the Natural 
     Resources Defense Council in Washington. ``What makes people 
     suspicious about whether they are hearing the truth is the 
     fact that these tests were really unnecessary in the first 
     place.''
       France has already contended that its underground nuclear 
     blasts inflict no damage on the fragile ecology of the 
     Mururoa coral atoll, 750 miles southeast of Tahiti, which 
     serves as its principal test site. Explosive devices are 
     bored deep within the basalt foundation of the atoll, and 
     French scientists say the intense heat from the blast 
     vitrifies the rock and traps all radioactivity before it can 
     escape.
       But Alain Barthoux, director of nuclear tests at France's 
     Atomic Energy Commission, acknowledged that traces of 
     radioactive material are usually ``vented'' into the lagoon 
     when scientists drill down into the rock to obtain samples 
     after every blast.
       Barthoux claimed, however, that such leaks involve 
     ``insignificant amounts'' of radioactive substances, such as 
     cesium, tritium or iodine, that vanish quickly in the 
     environment. Quantities of iodine-131, for example, which can 
     cause cancer when ingested by humans, shrink by half within 
     eight days and disappear entirely within 80 days, he said.
       Barthoux denied a report in the Japan's Yomiuri Shimun 
     newspaper that small amounts of radioactive iodine were 
     continuing to leak into the water as a result of the latest 
     round of nuclear tests. The paper quoted sources at the 
     Geneva disarmament conference, where the global test-ban 
     treaty is being negotiated, as saying a French nuclear expert 
     disclosed the radiation leakage at a meeting in Washington 
     last November.
       The French specialist was quoted as saying the information 
     was ``extremely confidential.''
       France first acknowledged the release of radioactivity from 
     its nuclear tests when oceanographer Jacques Cousteau visited 
     the Mururoa site in 1987 and was allowed to conduct 
     independent tests of the water in the lagoon. He found the 
     presence of radioactive iodine, cesium, cobalt and europium, 
     but in quantities that were not considered dangerous.
       But he warned the Mururoa's coral crown was deeply cracked 
     and could pose a problem if testing continued. He said risks 
     grew that higher levels of radioactive residue could seep 
     into the the lagoon.
       French Defense Minister Charles Million denounced reports 
     from last year of widening fissures in the atoll as 
     ``unreliable.'' Foreign Minister Herve de Charette told the 
     National Assembly that ``never have any cracks of any kind 
     been spotted.''
       But a confidential Defense Ministry report acknowledged the 
     government has been aware, at least since 1979, that 
     Mururoa's underwater basalt foundation is fractured several 
     places.

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