France and Nuclear Testing

Now. We all know that powerful countries tend to stockpile Nuclear Arms to prepare for war, but don't they know that the nuclear emissions will kill their country too? There have been many disputes on the production of nuclear arms in our world's history but one in particular is the Nuclear Testing in France. France decided in the mid 1990's to test Nuclear Weapons of mass destruction. Although the French were doing the tests, the tests themselves were not taking place in France. The French were testing these weapons in the Sahara Desert where individuals lived! Not only was disrespect for human lives, it was also incredibly impacted the land around the test site.

The site where France was doing most of its testing was in Ekker, Algeria. During the Cold War, France was in a hurry to build a Nuclear Bomb that would destroy the world. At the time, Algeria was a French Colony and was thought to be a ghost town with not many inhabitants. Turns out, thousands of people lived in Ekker and were extremely impacted by the tests. Radiation sickness, widespread disease, and thousands upon thousands killed. This went mostly unnoticed by the world because of the fact that every other country was also stocking up on Nuclear Weapons.

Although the testing was started during the Cold War, it was still being done in Algeria up until the mid 1990's when the people of Algeria decided to take a stand against the French for their horrific decisions. Backed by the Algerian Government, the citizens of Ekker consulted with the French and ordered them to give a formal apology and pay compensation. So what did the French say? The French government said that they tested the levels of radiation and they were well below the levels that could cause sickness and death. So the French did not feel the need to give aid to Algeria. This was only so because the French did not test the area central to the blast sites. Even today in some spots, the radiation is twenty times higher than normal radiation levels.

To this day, the people of Ekker still feel the effects of the testing done by the French. A bitter hatred for the French has developed in Algeria because of the French's seemingly stupid decisions on how to go about their Nuclear Testing. Today, the radiation is still present and will be for years to come. The French Government obviously did not think things through. They thought that their testing would have no impact on humans, but in the end, killed thousands of people with even more sick. I guess this makes you realize that no one is perfect and that we all make mistakes that can spark a bitter hatred towards you. All governments should think things through more properly in order to avoid tense situations like the one presented here with Algeria and France. If these tests were to be done in a place that was certainly barren and had no humans, then conflict could have been avoided and many lives saved, but no, someone had to make a quick decision in a time where everyone was building up arms to destroy the world!