This is one of the biggest challenges in uniting memories between France and Algeria, a substance that has long been buried in the sands of the Sahara: the pollution of southern Algeria by French nuclear tests. More than fifty years after the last test in 1966, Algiers has just created an agency to rehabilitate the sites of the old nuclear tests.
From 1960 to 1966, the French army conducted 17 nuclear tests in southern Algeria, at the sites of Reggane and In Ekker. At the time, Albdekrim Touhami, a native of Tamanrasset, was a teenager. In Ekker is located 150 kilometers north. He remembers the installation of the French military base, which was then perceived as a welcome source of jobs.
“For us, it was a godsend. Everyone ran to get a job as a simple maneuver or worker on the site. Far from us the idea that this bomb would be a disaster for the region. We were told: “There you are, the bomb will explode at such a time. You may feel some tremors as some kind of earthquake. But do not be afraid, there will be no problems.”
Fifteen years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the dangers of nuclear weapons are well known. The Algerian south is chosen to carry out these tests, as the area is considered to be quite desert compared to the southern Alps or Corsica, while being close to the French metropolis. France wants to quickly demonstrate its ability to use the bomb in connection with the Cold War and the nuclear deterrent race.
France wanted to catch up with the other nuclear powers, the United States, Russia and the United Kingdom, to stay in what was then called the “Great League”, which partly explains why the priority was the result, not concerns related to environmental impact The priority was to detonate the bomb, recalls Patrice Bouveret, co-founder of the Armament Observatory, an independent expert center.
A very polluted area
In 1962, Algeria became independent. The tests continue. A majority, eleven, was achieved between 1962 and 1966 and therefore with the consent of the new Algerian authorities. The waste from these tests was systematically buried, Jean-Marie Collin spokesman explains. by Ican-France (International Campaign to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons) who published a study with Patrice Bouveret, “Under the Sand, Radioactivity!”.
“France clearly has a desire to deposit,” emphasizes Jean-Marie Collin. She sees the desert as a sea, a sea of sand and she buries everything that is likely to be polluted. Algeria’s independence and the fact that France left Algeria under somewhat complicated conditions did not work for pollution. On the contrary, we left even more waste. “
Waste ranging from a simple screwdriver to a tank shown to test the resistance of military equipment to atomic bombs. Another contaminant linked to nuclear tests, which, by mistake, during the Berryl underground test in 1962.
“If we perform tests, it’s because we did not fully master this nuclear technology and therefore there were accidents that released radioactive lava,” the Ican-France spokesman continued. The test in question was 62. We were there in 2007. The researchers measured the radioactivity which was extremely strong and they told us: “We must not stay in place for more than twenty minutes, if we do not want to absorb radioactivity that is dangerous for the body”. “
A single victim compensated
Contaminated stones are left in the open, in passage areas. Polluted sand that is spread by the winds beyond the Algerian borders, especially in nearby Niger. For about fifteen years, in the Tamanrasset sector and with very few resources, Abdelkrim Touhami and his association Taourirt have been trying to make a health assessment.
“We have learned that many people have died from suspected deaths,” he says. Eventually, people were killed and children were born with malformations. Cancers broke out through this disaster. ”
To date, no official census of those exposed, whether French or Algerian. A single Algerian victim was compensated under the Morin Act (2010). The decree of 31 May to set up a test site rehabilitation agency in Algeria is an important step for Jean-Marie Collin of Ican-France
“Until now,” he explains, “the Algerian state created a certain surveillance zone in these places, but no measures had ever been taken to protect these zones to avoid any real access. This decree involves the possibility that international organizations such as states may “What we have at the same time is discussions between France and Algeria, which were officially revealed in April, while officially until then these discussions did not officially exist.”
These discussions took place within the framework of the French-Algerian Working Group on Nuclear Testing, which was set up in 2008 under the chairmanship of Nicolas Sarkozy. This issue of rehabilitation was also included in Benjamin Stora’s report on the reconciliation of memories between France and Algeria. Algiers must ratify Tian, the Treaty banning nuclear weapons, which France has not signed, by mid-October.
Supporters of the rehabilitation of old nuclear test sites want a joint French-Algerian mission sent to identify the contaminated sites to delimit them, eventually treat them so that residents are no longer exposed to radioactivity.
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