GP Calls for Open, Honest Moruroa Study

[the.greenbase@green2.greenpeace.org]

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Original-TO:      World Press (Green2:Green2:Gnl:INET)
Original-Cc:      The Greenbase (Green2:Green2:Gnl:Main)
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                   GREENPEACE PRESS RELEASE
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     GREENPEACE CALLS FOR OPEN AND HONEST MORUROA STUDY
 
AUCKLAND 5 March 1996 -- Greenpeace today demanded that data
gathered from a study of radioactive leakage at the Moruroa
and Fangataufa nuclear test sites be made public. The terms of
reference of the study, which begins tomorrow, should also be
made public now.
 
Greenpeace's Stephanie Mills said the study, initiated by
France and conducted under the auspices of the International
Atomic Energy Agency, must be conducted in an open and
transparent fashion if it is to be credible. The terms of
reference of the study must be immediately made public, Mills
said, and information made available about the scale and
nature of any sampling programmes at the atolls.
 
"For thirty years, the people of Polynesia and the Pacific
have been demanding an independent and comprehensive
investigation of the environmental and health impacts of
nuclear testing at Moruroa and Fangataufa," Stephanie Mills
said.  "They have a right to full information about the nature
of the study and the data found.  The study must address the
health impacts of the testing programme and the long- and
short-term effects of testing on the integrity and ecology of
the atolls."
 
A June 1995 study by the international health organisation
Medecin Sans Frontieres found that France had not maintained
adequate data on the health impacts of nuclear testing and
therefore had no basis to claim that the tests were safe.  
 
Stephanie Mills said the IAEA study should recommend ways in
which leakage from the atolls could be prevented in future, as
well as ensure that France took responsibility for monitoring
the atoll in perpetuity.
 
"Greenpeace's concern is for an open and honest scientific
process that is not subject to pressure from the French
authorities or the nuclear industry".  "The IAEA played a
significant role in the cover-up of the consequences of the
Chernobyl disaster, and its 'credibility gap' on health and
environmental issues will widen if it is not open to public
scrutiny." 
 
ENDS
 
Further information: Stephanie Mills (09) 630 6317 or (025)
790 817 (mobile); 
Manuel Pinto da Costa, Greenpeace Tahiti (+689) 433 282; 
Glyn Walters (09) 630 6317

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