Nuclear Legacy: France, UK Face Scrutiny Over Testing Impacts, Compensation Lags
Paris & London – Decades after conducting extensive nuclear weapons testing, France and the United Kingdom are facing renewed pressure to fully acknowledge and compensate those impacted by the programs. While both nations historically downplayed the health consequences of their tests, recent acknowledgements and ongoing advocacy reveal a complex and frequently enough painful legacy for veterans and civilian populations exposed to radiation.
For years, both France and the UK minimized the potential harm caused by their nuclear testing programs. France only formally acknowledged a link between its tests and the ill-health of Algerians and French Polynesians in 2010. Even then, compensation was slow to materialize, with roughly half of claimants receiving payouts only in 2021. The tests were conducted primarily in Algeria (1960-1966) and French Polynesia (1966-1996).
In 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron stopped short of a formal apology to the people of French Polynesia for the impact of the testing. However, he did admit the tests were “not clean” and stated that France owed a “debt” to the island territory. This acknowledgement, while significant, fell short of the full apology demanded by many affected communities.
Across the Channel, the UK directs nuclear test veterans to apply for compensation through its general war pensions scheme. However, veterans’ charities continue to advocate for specific compensation for former servicemembers, and also their children and grandchildren, who they say have suffered health problems as a direct result of their participation in UK nuclear testing operations. These tests were primarily conducted in Australia (Operation Hurricane,1952; Operation Totem,1957; Operation Antler,1959-1963) and on Christmas Island (1957-1962).
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) told CNN it “is committed to working with nuclear test veterans and listening to their concerns,” and that work “looking into unresolved questions regarding medical records” is currently underway. This suggests a potential shift towards greater transparency and accountability, though concrete action remains to be seen.The ongoing debate surrounding compensation and acknowledgement comes eighty years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and decades after the most intensive period of above-ground nuclear testing. The long-term health effects of radiation exposure, including increased rates of cancer, genetic mutations, and other illnesses, continue to be studied and debated. the world’s reckoning with the consequences of the nuclear age, therefore, is far from over, and the experiences of those directly impacted by testing programs remain a critical part of that conversation.
