French Defence Minister, Hervé Morin

French Defence Minister, Hervé Morin, presented Tuesday a draft law providing for the compensation of victims of the damaging nuclear tests conducted by the French colonial army in the period between 1960 and 1966 in the south of Algeria and Polynesia Island, a territory situated in the Pacific Ocean which is under French rule.

• A statement by the French council of Ministers said “Government decided to facilitate the process of compensation for persons infected with diseases because of the nuclear tests carried out by  France between 1960 and 1966 in the south of Algeria and in French Polynesia  Island”.
• Luc Chatel, spokesman of the French government explains that his country conducted 210 nuclear tests between 1960 and 1966 and because of them many Algerians were exposed to nuclear radiation that’s why France assume its responsibilities towards them.
• The French official noted that the new compensation system allows people who participated in these nuclear tests or the population of the nuclear tests’ areas to benefit from compensation after providing evidence of there presence there or their residents near these areas.
• Chatel pointed out that the compensation system will be in cash, and according to the nature and extent of the damage suffered by the applicant, according to the bill, noting that the French government revealed last March  the allocation of a sum of money worth 10 million euros in order to compensate victims of the nuclear tests in both Algeria and Polynesia.