Moruroa, French Polynesia, French Nuclear Testing Zone: The History, and Environmental Information

Moruroa, French Polynesia, French Nuclear Testing Zone. The History, and Environmental Information. A Book on Moruroa Environment. On July 2, 1966 the calm of French Polynesia's Mururoa atoll was shattered by an explosion of unbelievable force. Within a second, the azure tropical sky flashed bright orange, and was ruptured by a towering radioactive cloud that mushroomed into the atmosphere; the placid lagoon was stirred into a tempestuous cauldron, while the coconut trees on the white sand islets were bent by the sheer force of the nuclear explosion. "It's beautiful," said President Charles de Gaulle at the sight of the first of France's 193 nuclear tests in the South Pacific. But for French Polynesia and many of its people, the fallout from decades of nuclear weapons testing is still being dealt with 50 years after the first test.