Human Guinea Pigs in Nuclear Tests

After World War II, many countries began developing nuclear weapons. Not only did this spark fear and paranoia across the globe, but it had harmful effects on the environment and human health.

Countries like France are now known to have conducted many nuclear tests in he Sahara Desert and the South Pacific. Two hundred and ten nuclear tests have been conducted underground and in the atmosphere since the first French nuclear test in February 13, 1960. While the last French nuclear test was in 1995, only now have we found evidence of the shocking experiments.
“Gerboise Bleue”, the first nuclear test conducted by the French military, was detonated in the middle of the Algerian Sahara and was hugely successful. It was stronger than all three of the most powerful bombs of that time. The Gerboise Bleue was three times stronger than the “Fat Man”. After the detonation of this A-bomb, General De Gaulle stated:

“Hurray for France! Since this morning, she is stronger and prouder.”

It was this new found confidence in their artillery that lead them to riskier experiments.
On April 25, 1961, the French military purposely exposed soldiers to a nuclear test, "Gerboise verte", in the Sahara Desert to study the effect of atomic weapons on their bodies and minds. Since this information was only recently discovered, there is a limited amount of information on the subject. Luc Chatel, a government spokesman, promised that more scientific data about France's nuclear testing would be disclosed.
A French newspaper announced that it had obtained a confidential document two hundred and sixty pages long summarizing France's nuclear tests in the Sahara, including Gerboise verte. The goal was to study physiological and psychological effects produced on man by nuclear weapons, so that the military could mentally and physically prepare modern warriors.


Recently, Defense Minister Herve Morin told reporters, "We probably have to accept that errors were committed, at least about the consequences we should have taken." When asked if the soldiers were used as human guinea pigs, Morin said "no."
The government has refused for years to submit to pressure from people sickened by the radiation. In 2003, President Jacques Chirac reported after a visit to Tahiti that tests had shown no negative effects on human health from the nuclear detonations in Polynesia. It was only last year, after pressure from victims, that the government finally agreed to compensate them. French parliament passed a law that guaranteed compensation for victims who acquired health problems following the nuclear tests.
This report has caused people to question the methods of the Defense Department. What are they hiding from us? Can we trust the military to keep us safe? What else have they done that we don’t know about?


This concern and unrest isn’t exclusively in France. Governments all around the world are secretive about their nuclear weapons and the harmful effects on the body and environment.
A more recent example of nuclear danger is the United States’ Bravo Test. Victims of the hydrogen bomb testing at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands accused authorities of lying about the effects of radiation. Islanders were not evacuated until two or three days after the bomb had been detonated. Although many victims had developed serious burns and hair loss, the US Atomic Energy Commision stated that the islanders where in good health.
Nuclear testing is obviously dangerous because of radiation, but the fact that we are being lied to by our own Defense Department is equally terrifying. How can we be safe from nuclear testing if documents and test results are kept classified and out of reach?

I seriously don’t understand why we would ever want any more nuclear testing if we know so little about the subject. We are tampering with expensive weapons that contaminate the Earth and cause serious illness. How many more exposed victims will we compensate until we realize that nuclear testing is too dangerous?


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