FRANCE-POLYNESIA-OVERSEAS-NUCLEAR

Aimee Paeamara is 40 years old, shows off the scare of her thyroid operation in Rikitea, Mangareva, Gambier, French Polynesia on April 23, 2021. On July 2, 1966, France detonated the first nuclear bomb in Moruroa in French Polynesia. Its code name: Aldebaran. Shortly after this explosion, a radioactive cloud moved towards Mangareva, the main Gambier island located 424 km from Moruroa and more than 1,600 km from Tahiti. Aerial tests continued for nearly ten years, until 1974 with each time significant contamination of the Tuamotu and Gambier. Many locals have seen dead fish in the lagoon after gunfire and say they were poisoned by sick fish. Among the diseases, ciguatera, food poisoning by fish.In total, France carried out 193 atmospheric and underground tests. In 2013, France recognized 368 impacts on the 5 archipelagos of French Polynesia (Société, Gambier, Tuamotu, Australes, Marquesas). In Mangareva, the main island of the Gambier, 31 fallouts have been recognized. On this island of less than 1600 inhabitants, many people have developed cancer or thyroid problems. (Photo by Suliane FAVENNEC / AFP) (Photo by SULIANE FAVENNEC/AFP via Getty Images)