Today is the anniversary of the first nuclear test in Mururoa Atoll, an atoll in the southern Tuamotus. Between 1966 and 1996 there were 193 bombs exploded there. The entire population of two atolls were moved by the french government. Some were employed at the facility and exposed to the blasts and the resulting radiation.

This was a gathering of people who are still trying to get the French Government to provide some support to the communities that were moved and to the inhabitants who were made sick by the radiation. From what we could understand of the speeches (some in French and some in Tahitian), The current stance of the French government is that there is no danger for those who visit the atoll, although these are still marked as a prohibited area on our charts. Scientist who have visited the atolls had their rock and reef samples confiscated when they returned to Tahiti...

Having spent much time on two atolls in the northern Tuamotus, we can't imagine destroying a place that is so beautiful and full of life...