IN FOCUS

The Mururoa rocks
are blast
proof. This is the
latest from the
French front. The
French Atomic
Energy Commission
(CEA), is
making a valiant
bid to convince
the world that
holding nuclear
tests in the South
Pacific - that
has set the entire
planet aflame -
was not such an
evil deed after all.
It has come up with
the information that the coral
atolls where
they are carrying
out the tests are
stable and will not
leak radioactive
matter.

After an
underground test, 98
per cent of the
radioactive elements
are trapped in the
melted rocks.
Only a few isotopes
such as tritium
appear in
underground water
which circulate
through the volcanic rock of the
atoll. But the commission says these
bind to the rock,
reducing the
likelihood that they
will escape into
the sea.

Yves Caristan, a
geophysicist at
the CEA and his
colleagues have,
however, failed to
convince their
counterparts in
Australia. The scientific community
in this nation
are livid because
the French
authorities refused
them access
to the site before
they launched
the tests. They are
convinced
that the atolls are
unsuitable as
repositories of
nuclear waste.
Independent groups
of researchers
monitoring
radioactivity in the
environment have
told France that
the only way to
prove that the
atolls
are not leaking is
to allow them to
take samples. And
since this is
being steadfastly
blocked, none of
the other data are
acceptable to
them.

And so the debate
continues.
Meanwhile, neutral
observers like
Christopher Paine
of the Natural
Resources Defense
Council in
Washington DC, art
of the opinion
that while the
"environmental
case" against the
tests is
.overblown", the
tests by themselves are
absolutely
unnecessary.
"There is little
that the French can
learn in this short
series of tests
that will affect
the current state of
their arsenal," he
comments.