RADIOLOGICAL STUDY OF MURUROA AND FANGATAUFA ATOLLS BEGINS NEXT WEEK
Press Release
IAEA/1300
RADIOLOGICAL STUDY OF MURUROA AND FANGATAUFA ATOLLS BEGINS NEXT WEEK
19960301 VIENNA, 1 March (IAEA) -- A study of the radiological situation at the Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls in French Polynesia will begin next week.The study, which has been requested by the French authorities, will be under the guidance and direction of an International Advisory Committee convened by the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Hans Blix, and chaired by a nuclear radiation specialist and former member of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Gail de Planque. The Committee, which is expected to hold its first formal meeting in the spring, will bring together experts from Argentina, Australia, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Russian Federation, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States. In addition, there will be ex officio experts selected by relevant intergovernmental bodies -- the South Pacific Forum, the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, the World Health Organization and the European Commission.
Project management and coordination will be undertaken by the IAEA.
The study will cover not only the current radiological situation at the atolls but also an evaluation of the long-term radiological situation.
The French authorities have agreed to provide the IAEA with information and data required for performing the study. In addition, the study will involve the taking of terrestrial and marine samples which will occur in mid- year. Analysis of the samples will be carried out thereafter by the Agency's laboratories in Seibersdorf, Austria, and Monaco, as well as by a network of laboratories worldwide.
Next week, a reconnaissance mission will travel to the atolls to prepare the logistics for the measurements and sample-taking. The study will take approximately 18 months. The study's findings, conclusions and recommendations will be contained in a report of the Committee to be published by the IAEA.
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