法國參院:南太平洋核試爆小島 主權回歸玻里尼西亞 | 環境資訊中心
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法國參院:南太平洋核試爆小島 主權回歸玻里尼西亞

2012年01月31日
摘譯自2012年1月19日ENS法國,巴黎報導;周念學編譯;蔡麗伶審校

1970年裡,在穆魯羅瓦有大氣層核試驗(法國軍方提供)法國參議院核準法案,讓以前用來做空中與地下核試驗的兩座小島,重新回歸法屬玻里尼西亞。

1964年,法屬玻里尼西亞土阿莫土群島(Tuamotu Archipelago)的穆魯羅瓦(Mururoa)和方阿陶法(Fangataufa)兩座島嶼,主權歸法國,讓軍隊做核子試驗,並在1996年全部結束。前後超過30年個年頭,做了不下200次的核試驗,其中大氣層的核試驗就佔了40次。

法案內容提及,這兩座小島,在澳洲和南美洲、南太平洋海域的中心地帶;從2014年1月1日起將再一次回歸法屬玻里尼西亞的領土。

如果這項法案正式立法,法屬玻里尼西亞就有了這兩座島的主權,不過法國仍將繼讀關注小島的永續生態環境,監測幅射量與地質汙染的相關問題。

法案也提到,小島不能用來從事軍事行動,違者處以15年的徒刑,罰金最高300,000歐元。法國輻射防護與核能安全研究所(France's Institute of Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety)每年至少執行一次真相調查任務,分析與測量兩組小島上的幅射,並以12個月為期對外公開結果。

法案內容指出,法國總理可以成立國家委員會,全權了解當地環境因核試驗所承受的後果,並3年對公眾提交追蹤報告。

法國國防部長格龍(Gerard Longuet)表示,法國有責任確保小島核試驗相關的資訊安全,以避免核子擴散(譯註:意指避免核試驗資料外洩,讓有心人士用來發展核武)。

環團犧牲生命反核試爆

多年來,綠色和平組織和紐西蘭那些提倡和平的團體在穆魯羅瓦抗議法國政府,要政府放棄在島上做核武測試。

1972年,當時加拿大綠色和平成員大衛麥克塔加(David McTaggert),駕駛私人帆船抗議法國政府,帆船行駛到小島專屬海域後,遭法國突擊隊登船破壞設備並打傷人員,大衛最後失去一隻眼睛,但還是保全了當時核試驗的影片,最後公諸於世。

1974年抗爭終於成功,法國當局取消大氣層核試爆。1979年,大衛擔任綠色和平主席和主要發言人,之後在1991年退休。

1985年在紐西蘭的奧克蘭地區,綠色和平基金會的彩虹勇士號(Rainbow Warrior),原來要抗爭法國在軍事區內做核試爆,不料,出師未捷身先死,遭法國對外情報機構DGSE擊沉。葡萄牙籍的攝影記者,費爾南多佩雷拉( Fernando Pereira),為了挽救船中的攝影設備,最後不幸溺斃。事後DGSE)的2名涉案隊員遭到逮補、入獄服刑,最後遺返回國。其他參與砲擊行動的軍方人員,則因罪證不足獲釋。1987年,法國受國際輿論的壓力,賠償綠色和平816萬美元。

核試爆危害漸受重視

1995年,當時的法國總統席哈克(Jacques Chirac)計畫展開一系列核試爆,但隔年簽定「全面停止核子試爆協定」(Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty)即將簽訂,為此法國遭全世界連聲撻伐。

國際原子能總署(IAEA)原本的報告指出,南太平洋地區的島嶼,包括穆魯羅瓦(Mururoa)和方阿陶法(Fangataufa)這兩座環礁島,幅射強度低,幾乎傷害不到當地居民。「近來,南太平洋的居民的確吸收了幅射量,不過這兩座島上的放射性廢棄物,檢測出來的是自然輻射強度,往後的幅射強度也是差不多這樣,所以,我們可以確定幾乎不會影響人民的健康。

但是2006年的8月間,法國官方報告證實了,當地甲狀腺癌罹癌率上升與法國的大氣層核試爆有關。

到了2009年的3月間,法國宣布要賠償法屬玻里尼西亞和阿爾及利亞,共15萬受到幅射傷害的人民。另外,初次會有1千萬歐元的金額,當作各項津貼補助款,給執行核試驗而受傷的軍方、相關工作人員、和當地居民。

French Senate OKs Return of Nuclear Test Atolls to French Polynesia
PARIS, France, January 19, 2012 (ENS)

The Senate of France has passed legislation that transfers two Pacific atolls used for atmospheric and underground nuclear testing back into the public domain of French Polynesia.

The atolls of Mururoa and Fangataufa in the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia were ceded to France in 1964 to allow the French military to conduct the tests. More than 200 nuclear tests were conducted at the two atolls over a 30 year period ending in 1996, 40 of them 

The measure provides that the atolls, located in the middle of the South Pacific about halfway between Australia and South America, will again be under the domain of French Polynesia from January 1, 2014.

If the proposed legislation becomes law, the atolls would be returned to French Polynesia, but France would continue environmental remediation and monitoring of radiation and geomechanics there "in a sustainable manner."

The bill makes it a crime to undertake research for military purposes on the atolls, punishable by 15 years' in prison and a fine up to 300,000 euros.

At least once a year, France's Institute of Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety would conduct a fact-finding mission to analyze and measure radiation on the two atolls, and make the results of these missions public within a period of 12 months.

The bill provides for creation of a national commission under the Prime Minister of France to monitor the environmental consequences of nuclear testing on the atolls. The commission would produce a public report with follow-up every three years.

The current French Defense minister, Gerard Longuet, says France has a duty to safeguard the information contained in the atolls, to prevent nuclear proliferation.

Moruroa, also spelled Mururoa, was the site of years of protests by Greenpeace and New Zealand peace groups aimed at stopping the nuclear weapons testing.

In 1972, Canadian Greenpeacer David McTaggert used his personal sailboat as a protest vessel. After sailing inside the exclusion zone around the atoll, McTaggert's boat was boarded by French commandos. They damaged the vessel and beat up McTaggert, who lost the sight of one eye but was able to save film of the incident and release it to the media.

The protests succeeded in 1974 when the French government announced the end of its atmospheric nuclear testing program. McTaggert became chairman and chief spokesman of Greenpeace in 1979, retiring in 1991.

In 1985 the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior was bombed and sunk by France's external intelligence agency, the DGSE, in Auckland, New Zealand, as it prepared for another protest of nuclear testing in French military zones. One crew member, photographer Fernando Pereira of Portugal, drowned on the sinking ship while attempting to recover his equipment. Two members of the DGSE were captured, sentenced and imprisoned, but eventually repatriated to France.

The other bombers were not arrested due to lack of evidence. In 1987, under international pressure, the French government paid $8.16 million compensation to Greenpeace.

French President Jacques Chirac's decision to run a series of nuclear tests at Mururoa in 1995, just one year before the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was to be signed, caused worldwide protest.

The IAEA (The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency) report concludes there is little danger to people on the atolls or in the wider South Pacific, saying, "The radiation doses currently received by populations in the South Pacific region as a result of the residual radioactive materials remaining in Mururoa and Fangataufa are negligible fractions of natural background levels, and will continue to be so in the long term."

But in August 2006, an official report by the French government confirmed the link between an increase in cases of thyroid cancer on the atolls and France's atmospheric nuclear tests.

France said on in March 2009 that it will compensate 150,000 victims of nuclear testing in French Polynesia and Algeria. An initial sum of 10 million euros was set aside for military and civilian staff and for local populations who became ill from radiation exposure.

作者

周念學

親近大自然,精神上總是愉快的。

蔡麗伶(LiLing Barricman)

In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.