This 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. 

Sixty years ago today, France detonated its first nuclear weapon above Mururoa Atoll in Ma'ohi 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. 

We invited Ma'ohi Nui politician and nuclear justice activist Hinamoeura Cross épouse Morgant to share her story.

Hinamoeura Cross épouse Morgant

My commitment to nuclear justice began in 2018, when I became aware of the true scale of what had been imposed on my people through the 193 French nuclear bombs detonated in Māʻohi Nui, administratively designated as French Polynesia, between 1966 and 1996.

For a long time, we were taught that this nuclear experimentation had brought development and progress to our islands, and that it had caused no consequences for the health of our people or for our environment. But behind this State propaganda were decades of lies, ignorance, illness and suffering. Today, I believe that we have a responsibility to dismantle these decades of State lies, to tell the truth about the consequences of French nuclear colonialism in Māʻohi Nui, and to demand recognition and reparations for the harm suffered.

In 2019, I decided to speak publicly about my own illness. I was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia at the age of 24. Speaking about my illness was not easy, but it was necessary. I wanted people to understand that the consequences of nuclear experimentation are not only historical or political. They are deeply human. They live in our bodies, in our families, and in the stories that too many people have been afraid, or unable, to tell.

Later, I decided to enter politics because I wanted to give greater weight to this struggle. In 2023, I was elected to the Assembly of French Polynesia. The first text I brought forward was a resolution in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, adopted by the Assembly. For me, it was a way of stating clearly that nuclear justice must be carried not only by activists, but also within political institutions.

Today, I continue to raise my voice internationally to denounce what France has done to my people and the fact that the French State still refuses to fully take responsibility. At the same time, in Māʻohi Nui, I want to continue raising awareness among our own people about the consequences of the 193 French nuclear bombs, especially after decades of propaganda that presented them as something positive for our country.

I wish to pay tribute to all those who carried this struggle before us: those who resisted, denounced, testified and refused silence, at a time when speaking out was even more difficult. Their courage opened the path on which I walk today. I understand the responsibility that is now ours: to continue carrying this memory, to demand truth and justice, and to trace the way for future generations.

Through my testimony, I also hope that other people affected by illness will find the strength to speak, so that the suffering of our people can no longer be ignored or silenced.