bomb in my mother's womb. that's that's what exploded for what and nothing and then what she's dead and what she's dead on a limb and my eyes smile and is dead now. on this january afternoon under the magnificent dome of the senate the debate begins a debate which is not exactly popular maybe because it's about polynesia a country some eighteen thousand kilometers away with a different world yet this is a day that could go down in history nearly as you deny the environmental damage throughout in particular in french polynesia is to deny

a part of every polynesians identity depriving them of their land their environment is to deprive them of part of themselves the guy who this stone comes from or. sits and this is exactly what all of this is about this afternoon nothing else this system or. this one is all that's visualized the forty one flashes in the thermonuclear explosions in the middle of the sky should move above more money she magnificent said some of your predecessors minister. zealots visualize again the one hundred thirty one underground explosions and underwater blasts one hundred twenty three of which were and more us atolls

minister my dear colleagues if i offered you this stone would you feel safe placing it under the pillow of your loved ones every night or wouldn't you at least like to have a choice know that they're none of the parents and none of their children had this choice. after the first nuclear tests in nine hundred sixty in the midst of the algerian uprising france needed to find new frontiers as empty and as barren to steal jewry and desert. three years later to sighted to continue its atomic saga in polynesia. for the principles and conditions the circumstances that have led us here good have determined that we need to equip ourselves with. tomic force. and then we stand by the decision which we have come to the most recent build and if required to use

our own atomic force. that same year a member of the territorial council on his way to paris was summoned to the lose a palace to testify. general de gaulle spoke very little of polynesia and he didn't tell me about the two a toltz. enough he underlined the need to get to work it was urgent we had to act quickly. recently for him the experiments had to take place and go well. for this they needed vast open spaces remote and sparsely inhabited french polynesia was just that a large area bigger than europe do need didn't know was that two years earlier in one nine hundred sixty one topographic surveys had already been carried out. at one point he might have seen that i was embarrassed that i was questioning myself

and i didn't even have time to talk see he told me that if it didn't go well you know there could have been a fair because he would declare that french polynesia would become a military territory there. just have a good i knew that friends of the state would take it by force i knew where end it would come to realize it was too important for friends and for to go from here to go on february the six to nine hundred sixty four the territorial assembly of polynesia buckled under pressure and approved the general's decision as a result to little known atolls and for tougher were taken over by the state and became defacto military zones and there were no grounds upon which to claim ownership of those assholes your car owners were still there so there's a lot at least have some courtesy disability thing to do is ask their own is if you can move in if not ok will have a discussion around the table but hear nothing they moved in by force or force out

with no regard for us whatsoever. the reason given by the government was the launch of the crucial pacific experimentation center project. because c.p. started being built things moving and tempers were on me we were heading towards profit. when profit. to goal wanted a credible nuclear deterrent it was a priority and nobody questioned the costs involved a few months later to arrived in port a true show of france's military power. everyone was overjoyed to get within a few years the traditional culture would have completely disappeared.

soon hundreds of workers were hired and rushed in from all over polynesia. a camp was built to hells up to four thousand people four hundred fifty kilometers to the north the i told of how they came the largest tickle hope of the experimentation center. forty five years later. nothing but a distant memory only rundown remains like this problem to bear witness to its former glory. the buzzing operation that once employed two thousand five hundred people has become nothing more than a ghost town. one

hundred ninety three blasts took place over the thirty years of the polynesian nuclear project throughout this time the official position has always remained the same everything is under control and the tests are safe. we were always very poorly informed about these things we recognized what happened here ashima nagasaki and we knew what had happened during different american english experiments but we didn't realize what it represented and what it would represent for us it is true that at the time scientists really had no way of knowing for sure and were guided by little more than intuition especially when it came to such an important factor as winds direction which determined whether they would proceed with the test. in the one hundred sixty s. we didn't have numerical models of weather predictions so we used radio signals at about fifteen sites. the radio signals detected a balloon and by the location of the balloon and we could see the wind altitudes

and then we mapped out these fifteen points and once we knew the different altitude levels of the wind the weather forecasters could use the maps to figure out the distribution of different winds in the area they. don't. understand the spread of particles that were possibly contaminated with the c p had developed a forecasting model. but these models were relatively simple more than they predicted certain subjects so we had a lot of faith in this trajectory that we now know that the atmosphere was far more chaotic and the margin for error was much bigger than we believed so we must take into account these uncertainties that can after a few hours in fact reach several hundred kilometers. based on evidence from the first experiment on july the second one nine hundred sixty six the mushroom cloud didn't follow the predicted trajectory at all it quickly reached the gumby

archipelago and a few hours later hit the learned of man go along with it six hundred inhabitants today we would call this collateral damage it would be forty years before we found out the truth buried in a document classified as top secret at the time. ten billion per hour in half an hour and asked for information face to face from the local authorities. it might be necessary to reduce the real figure so as not to lose the trust of the people who realized that something had been hidden from them after the first blast. to general de gaulle know the truth was it hidden from him as well whatever the case this is what he had to say a few weeks later in tahiti. as you know all of the arrangements that have been made. disadvantage whatsoever to the dear people.

it wasn't until the publication of an official document in two thousand and six that the full extent of the nuclear fallout in french polynesia was revealed. the ministry of defense recorded more than one hundred eighty incidents of nuclear fallout during atmospheric testing from one hundred sixty six to nine hundred seventy four however this was absolutely useless how did they come to this figure what data was it based on what scientific criteria we. used reports from one thousand nine hundred seventy four blast in tahiti located one thousand two hundred kilometers from showed that only a part of the island was affected. however thirty eight years later in february twenty twelve the entire island is considered to have been affected by the radioactive cloud that didn't follow the predicted trajectory. take us for idiots

and then make those that aren't idiots seem like idiots we were told long ago that the french nuclear trials were clean they'd never had any problems. the russians were funny the americans were funny the great ish were they kept saying these things they thought that we were a bit dead waited. i don't know if it is it but we've studied we know how to read and we inform ourselves of what happens around the world the schools we discussed the talk of a colonial power and meaning still hasn't decided whether to discredit us or to just be totally complacent towards. me and people name me as. a mobile faulty.

family. i'm still looking for my call to get a life. so my place in the world. literally have no place to live. chewing on the bread that you bowl with the last money you were able to bag and all i can say is get out of here. there are only two possible outcomes to the situation you have to go to miami and it's all about fancy politics the other option you die in the ring breathe deep breathe deep.

pleasure to have you with us here on t.v. today i'm sure. in an attempt to make amends the government took steps to raise all traces of the nuclear testing on the island of mantle reva where a nuclear shelter which in reality was nothing more than a would be when i was covered in metal was demolished a few years ago nevertheless twenty three cases of contamination have been recognized officially. headed for how. the island of the harbor it's the third largest atoll in polynesia which was chosen as

the advanced support base from the road four hundred fifty kilometers away. the base was dismantled in two thousand and since then the inhabitants have resumed a quiet and peaceful life. but the army returned in two thousand and nine for a large scale cleanup operation that will take seven years and sixteen million euros to complete. it's not going to be an easy task to restore the nature to its pristine condition. in an attempt to distance itself from its reputation the army is trying to be open about the ambitious operation. we're entering into an area where things have been buried underground you know we can see that the first phase of research has been carried out on meaning the company or has already dug up soil to take test samples. so effectively by doing this first stage of research we can see the scraps of metal poking out of. france must turn this page

in its history we finished the nuclear tests we want to turn the page we want everything to be clean and tidy said that we can get back and move on the puckering of that's all it comes down to we carried out trials we learnt a lot from it not just about the nuclear bomb but also concerning the world of health up until that time we use methods of a bike. well there's no shame in saying that at the time we worked in a certain way today the constraints are a lot more sensitive so we're required to pay attention to the environment we're adapting and it's only out of this necessity to adapt to that we're doing this work properly. and how you've got to remember that there was nuclear activity. it was the advanced support base for more at the time of the aerial trials so radioactive materials were handled. there were vulture planes

stationed there it circulated the radioactive clouds to gather samples and everything was analyzed in how the boats that were contaminated in mara and frank were brought to how french decontamination there was a ca lab which analyzed all radioactive substances so it was in a town where a lot of radioactivity was handled. especially those that were heavily contaminated and were brought here by military jets during the eighty years of atmospheric testing the vultures came to this particular area where we had four stations where they could be decontaminated off and it was a simple method wearing full protective clothing cleaner sprayed the aircraft with an emulsion so that all of the radioactive particles that they collected fell to the floor these were then collected and brought back in a settling tank and the rest of the emulsion which was then free from radioactivity

was rolled by a worker into the ocean just behind us. of course. all of this was done under tight controls. and there were samples taken regularly to ensure that everything going into the ocean was clean. but all these procedures sufficient to guarantee that the fish staple diet of polynesia is safe for the inhabitants of how to consume this task requires an independent laboratory responsible for monitoring radioactivity in the whole of polynesia both in the year and in the food chain. is injuring the period of atmospheric testing if we had these after effects that impacted directly on the entire southern hemisphere because it's then a soon as the test stopped because they quickly descended on the polynesian islands and that's was around more oh i particular coral and most of the earth which

contains coral didn't retain any of the radioactivity so anything that was dumped on the ground was washed away mostly by rain into the sea today even in how you remember there are a lot of decontamination labs etc if you look for radioactivity in the earth you will find it was there at a given moment but it's since been washed away so these whereas in areas where the earth contains organic matter radioactivity is retained the. in one thousand nine hundred ninety nine before the utah was put back in the hands of the territory there were precautionary measures in check. for example in this noticeable area. which allow analyses to be taken from the bottom to see the infiltration that there might be between the two concrete slabs. these core

samples were sent back to the mainland and the results were collected. then afterwards compiling the results we were able to see the exact spot where there was radioactive emission. and we would see that this emission was tiny less than you might find lender now in britain. here we can effectively know everything about the area around the legionnaires fifty four and regiment camp i could see the green zone show that there's no pollution whereas the red zones show that pollution has been detected in the lead hydrocarbons in. different times different customs. it would seem that the army has now developed an environmental conscience . in this pilot project the restoration of one hundred eighty five

years is an opportunity to apply new technologies like using bacteria to digest the many chemical residues. students seem unconcerned their teachers are wary and have countless questions on this if first piece we don't know what happened here with. the lake let's not forget what's been bird in the earth here. from what i've seen a lot of things have been removed. but there may be things that we haven't been told about. it's true that when we ask questions like what's been put in the lake in the ocean in the earth many people don't trust them sincerely to say i was. there all see all come with administration is scared as we all are

i believe that there is waste in the wake yeah digital of the it seems there are tankers tracks normally you've got to take all that out you know when people hear that fish comes from how they get scared because that fish from how he's going to be made to. see him. but. many people have the idea that things are being hidden from us so as soon as you mention the word nuclear needed suspicion of lies i think that today we're moving away from this way of thinking and people are able to understand us before needed to be explained a little more and the people were capable of getting their heads around it in the days of nuclear trials the word environment didn't exist the season lagoons were

simply considered to be the most practical garbage dumps concrete scrap metal poles of airplanes or trucks. without so much as a second thought to all the waste that was dumped in the lake was not radioactive waste that was maybe polluting like batteries or hydrocarbons which were still in vehicles per se it's more immediately put in the lake so in two thousand and eight in fact there had already been a first sighting of such waste so a rehab and station project was immediately organized by the country and the community to get rid of all this waste and all the dangerous debris and the batteries would obviously be taken out without any doubt. material like bits of concrete and it would be done in open view of the country's watch to see that everything was taken out properly and got to be seen that life is resumed on top of the waste that the coral is regrown it mustn't badly affect the ecosystem or the environment especially if it's there's no risk involved in getting it out.

reassuring speech from a person tasked with p.r. . the cauchy pass which is what we call the hotel area an area in deep immersion particularly there are hundreds of tons of radioactive waste which were put there in the form of drums that went all the way down to the bottom. this is a designated area. in another area there was some scrap metal which could be regularly seen slightly emerged in the ocean. these are two identified zones or see or hear those on elsewhere we regularly see strong swirls where bits of metal emerge and wash up on shore like they have all this will be got rid of and we'll find areas where we can put it the radioactive waste in the hotels will stay there they will be touched as it's not part of the rehabilitation project for them. and

so they were buried in pits one thousand five hundred to two thousand meters deep. in total five hundred seventy tons of contaminated waste including the famous airplanes were thrown into the great blue sea. of more concern for the government was a report published in january twenty seventh that at the very least signals trouble ahead. the atomic energy commission to document included a computer simulation of the possible collapse of part of morrow at olds crown. hardly surprising considering that one hundred thirty seven blasts took place there . the principle of underground testing is simple the nuclear charges placed in a well dug in the between six hundred and one thousand meters deep after the explosion the rock becomes fused which is supposed to keep the radioactivity

contained. the power of the explosion caused a mini earthquake which is clearly visible from the footage taken by controlled cameras. taking into account the twenty eight tests it is the north east of the at all that is in the greatest danger. if the mess estimated to be about six hundred seventy million cubic meters in size were to collapse it would cause a fifteen to twenty meter high. a wave followed by a tsunami. is around one hundred kilometers away traveling at six hundred kilometers per hour the wave would reach the atoll in just ten minutes. to read so close to motorola so far from the haiti twelve hundred kilometers away.

why is the price of gold so high. demand global demand do you think gold is money. the value of the only place we have to live of the water that we need to survive it's not compared to i mean gold we're not going to eat gold we're not going to be told. we're not going to drink what clearly is and is in a desperate economic situation absolutely right what we're wrong to do is say therefore any kind of economic development from the outside is going to be a benefit their only purpose is to extract as much money as possible to feed into the global financial system. with me or

a part of the geo political economic system that's extremely exploited or. first of all is a question whether mining should even be carried out altogether can it be done in a way which doesn't destroy people's lives resources environment will. you know those are pretty serious questions mining is not a what a moment problem it's happening in asia in africa and south america in central america in mexico and it's even happening in canada and the united states. yet here in the united states that's really a pretty astonishing thing when an organization like and are used to doing work on behalf of writers around the world who are subject to censorship or who self said

serve because they know that in china in iran they're going to be jailed for a right that a right we're not used to that here at home i think that needs to sink in the courts and in the congress to recognize that we really are trading away some quite fundamental values potentially you know if you if you're a poor person under surveillance and you cannot be free at last and i think that that is beginning to make a connection with people this is a terrible thing to be happening at our country to have this massive system and really to the world to have this massive system where a few people in complete secrecy can monitor anyone in the world and let's be clear if we look at the obama administration's rationale for who are terrorists they say they don't have to tell you why they declared a certain person a terrorist either so who knows how this information could be used now or in the future against the american people.

this is a t tonight ukraine seeks clarification from the e.u. offer european commissioner says trade deal talks with the country are on hold while the summit nonstop anti-government protests in the capital that are being cheered on by western politicians. i also the protest about protests a rally in spain turns ugly during a campaign against possible restrictions on authorized demonstrations which been labeled an attack on democracy covering up. the blues after breaking free of the e use aid program but the government warns that doesn't mean an end to all. and russia doesn't want to dominate the world but will stand firm in defending its values.