France Expounds Its Narrative Regarding The Resolution Of The Vexed Nuclear Explosions Issue

The French authorities presented their narrative regarding the repeated demands of the Algerian authorities concerning the assumption of their full responsibilities in addressing the issue of radioactive and chemical pollution, which was caused by the French nuclear and chemical explosions in southern Algeria in the period between 1960 and 1966.

Catherine Vautrin, the French Minister delegated for the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs, presented the steps taken by her country in this regard, yet she confirms that the French authorities have done what they were supposed to do, based on their responsibility as a state involved in poisoning large areas of Algerian territory, due to those heinous criminal explosions.

The French clarifications came in response to a written question from a member of the French National Assembly (the lower house of parliament), Sabrina Sebaihi, which was delayed by more than six months. In her answer, Catherine Vautrin enumerated a series of steps she said her country had taken for decades.

She explained: “Between 1960 and 1966, France conducted 17 nuclear tests in Algeria, at the Reggane and In Ekker sites, including 4 atmospheric tests and 13 underground tests. The facilities were dismantled and the sites returned to the Algerian authorities, in accordance with the Evian Accords”.

She added: “In 1999, at the request of Algeria, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sent a mission to evaluate the radiological situation of the former French nuclear test sites. In addition, France provided the IAEA with a summary of information regarding the test site and the techniques used. It also provided a radiological assessment of the sites between 1966 and 1967, as well as an extrapolation of the situation until 1999 “.

Based on the French Minister’s answer, the preliminary report of the IAEA was published in 2005 after amendments and with the approval of the Algerian authorities. She pointed out that in 2001, a report from the French Parliamentary Office for Scientific and Technological Assessment presented a study of the environmental and health effects of nuclear tests conducted by France between 1960 and 1966, along with comparative data from tests conducted by other nuclear states”.

Catherine Vautrin noted in this context that in 2008, a French-Algerian working group on nuclear tests was formed, composed of experts, to study the rehabilitation of former nuclear test sites in the Sahara, with the highest priority given to protecting the population and the environment, however she did not refer to the outcomes of this team’s work, which has been 18 years without providing any significant result.

The French Minister claimed that the French President, Emmanuel Macron, presented to his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune, during his visit to Algeria from 25 to 27 August 2022, a file containing all the maps and information France possesses regarding buried waste and radiologically identified areas, which is questionable, because Algeria still to this day demands Paris to hand over detailed maps concerning all explosions and waste burial areas.

This fact was confirmed by the MP who authored the question, who addressed the French authorities saying: “The Algerian authorities are demanding detailed maps and plans related, first, to buried waste, and second, precise data on radioactive areas.

Accordingly, she asks him to clarify the reasons why France has not sent this information, which is necessary for the protection of the population and the rehabilitation of the environment, and to state whether the government intends to inform the Algerian authorities of it”, which makes the French answer ready and canned and did not align with the core of the old and renewed Algerian demands.

Commenting on what was said by the French Minister about this sensitive file, which is considered among the causes of tension in relations between Algeria and Paris, Mr. Hosni Kitouni, professor and researcher in colonial history, believes that the French authorities are not serious about closing this file despite its danger to humans and the environment as well as to bilateral relations.

In communication with “Echorouk” on the subject, Kitouni said: “The problem is that France still refuses to hand over the plans for nuclear and chemical tests, and the locations of buried waste and equipment used for that”, and the specialized researcher attributed this to unconvincing French justifications such as “military secrecy”.

Mr. Hosni Kitouni explained that the “military secrecy” invoked by France hindered much of the research conducted by specialists in crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity committed by France in Algeria throughout 132 years, and mentioned among them the difficulties faced by a researcher who tried to dig into the nature of the gases used by the French occupation army in burning thousands of Algerians, especially the Mujahideen in caves during the liberation revolution and before it.

In the opinion of the researcher in colonial history, the problem in this regard is “political and not technical,” meaning that French officials of all kinds are trying to play on the secrecy of the military archives, which is merely a pretext, because the French authorities fear the truth of their crimes being exposed, and that any concession in favor of Algeria in this file, which will result in reparations, will prompt other countries harmed by French colonialism to demand reparations, which puts Paris in a dilemma that is difficult to get out of.