BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 28. Algeria is urgently calling on France to take full responsibility for the removal of nuclear test waste left behind from tests conducted on Algerian soil, said Salah Goudjil, Chairman of the Algerian National Council, Trend reports citing Algerian media.
Speaking at a parliamentary discussion on a new draft law aimed at managing, controlling, and eliminating waste, Goudjil emphasized the importance of clearly expressing this position in the draft legislation.
He also emphasized how Algerians who live close to nuclear test sites still endure the effects of those tests.
Meanwhile, the author of the draft law, Algerian Minister of Environment and Quality of Life Nadjiba Djilali, said that during the debates, the new legislation not only addresses current challenges but also includes messages concerning historical and environmental justice. In this context, the minister referred to the catastrophic effects of the nuclear tests carried out by the colonial regime in the Algerian desert.
Djilali emphasized the need for the perpetrators of this environmental catastrophe, resulting from nuclear experiments, to fully acknowledge their historical, moral, and legal responsibilities. She called for the removal of radioactive waste and the recognition of the immense harm done to the people of Algeria, Adrar, Reggane, In Iqra, and other regions. She also noted that France's actions were one of the steps that violated the rights of her country and people.
The minister further emphasized that incorporating these demands into national environmental legislation will strengthen the protection of current and future generations, ensuring a healthy and sustainable environment. She also reaffirmed that continuing efforts to address this issue through all possible means will restore the rights of the Algerian people and protect the environment from further destruction.
Algerian website Al-Shaab reports that between 1960 and 1966, France conducted 17 nuclear tests in Algeria’s mountainous regions, including Reggane and Ahaggar. The first test, on February 13, 1960, involved an explosion with a force of 70 kilotons, 3–4 times stronger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The consequences of this test lasted far longer than initially expected.
The website cites a 1960 report from the French Atomic Energy Commission, which stated that the area, spanning approximately 150 km, was contaminated with radioactive materials. The report, a secret until 2013, revealed the broader and more severe effects of these tests. Radiation clouds reached as far as the Mediterranean coast, affecting countries in Southern and Central Africa and even Spain’s and Italy’s Sicily’s coastlines.
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