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French nuclear test victims to jump hurdles to get compensation

Compensation will be decided on a case-by-case basis. Victims are to submit a claim to a committee

France to compensate people who suffered health problems from nuclear tests Google News By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (CP) – 23 Dec ARIS — France’s parliament on Tuesday passed a law to compensate victims of nuclear tests in Algeria and the South Pacific, a response to decades of complaints by people sickened by radiation. The law cleared France’s Senate on Tuesday, its final legislative hurdle following approval in the National Assembly in June……………….The text, hammered out with help from victims’ associations, recognizes the right for victims of France’s more than 200 nuclear tests to receive compensation……………….

Some 150,000 people, including civilian and military personnel, were on site for the 210 tests France carried out, both in the atmosphere and underground, in the Sahara Desert and the South Pacific from 1960-1996.

Compensation will be decided on a case-by-case basis. Victims are to submit a claim to a committee made up of seven representatives of the state and two members from outside the government, which will make a recommendation to the Defence Ministry. The ministry will then notify victims of its decision.

The Canadian Press: France to compensate people who suffered health problems from nuclear tests

December 23, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, Legal | antinuclear, France, nuclear, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive