2 July 2026
60 Years Since Nuclear Testing in Māʻohi Nui (2 July 1966)
This year on 2 July 2026 will be 60 years since France detonated its first nuclear weapon above Moruroa Atoll in Māʻohi Nui, administratively designated as French Polynesia.
This was the beginning of three decades of radioactive violence visited on a people who were never asked and never consented.
Between 1966 and 1996, France conducted approximately 193 nuclear tests on the atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa, 41 of them above ground, dispersing radioactive fallout across the islands and ocean of Māʻohi Nui.
When France detonated its first hydrogen bomb in 1968, the blast was so powerful that Fangataufa Atoll had to be evacuated. Nearby islands were abandoned. Communities were displaced. And France called it safe.
For decades, the Māʻohi people were told the tests posed no serious risk. We now know that was a lie.
Declassified documents reveal that France underestimated radiation exposure by a factor of two to ten and that around 110,000 people, nearly the entire population of Māʻohi Nui at the time, were exposed to radioactive fallout.
Thyroid cancer. Breast cancer. Leukemia. The consequences are written in the bodies of survivors and their descendants.
France didn't pass even a limited compensation law until 2010, and has never apologised.
The atolls themselves remain contaminated, with an ongoing risk of radioactive leakage into the Pacific Ocean.
This is not history. This is a continuing injustice, and Ma'ohi voices are leading the call for accountability, repair, and recognition of what was done in the name of French nuclear power.
The Nuclear Truth Project stands with affected communities in the Māʻohi Nui and across the Pacific in demanding rights, respect, and reciprocity. Walk with us.