Transcript
The bomb blast was the first of 193 over 30 years in Mururoa and Fangataufa.
The last test was in 1996 and plans are now afoot to build a memorial site in Tahiti to mark the test legacy.
Just days before the anniversary one nuclear test veterans organisation has decided to pull out of the memorial project.
The head of the Association 193 Father Auguste Uebe-Carlson says his group will officially resign on July the 2nd when a march is planned.
"This memorial site is a good thing in itself but with the philosophy of the current French government we no longer agree, and we fear that the memorial will become a propaganda centre for clean nuclear tests."
Last year France offered the former Navy command centre in Papeete as the proposed commemoration centre, and the French Polynesian government commissioned historians to contribute.
Father Auguste Uebe-Carlson says this week's march will also be used to show the Association's objection to tightened criteria for compensation for the health issues caused by the tests.
A law change was slipped in in late December and as a consequence, a local court recently threw out ten compensation claims.
The amendment caused an outcry but the indignation worsened when it became obvious that the change was the result of a report led by French Polynesian politician Lana Tetuanui, as Father Uebe-Carlson explains.
"Another lie has come with the collaboration of locally elected politicians. One can understand the logic of a state like the French state in its lies but Lana Tetuanui is a Polynesian. She should have understood what goes on in this country. Or as we fear, at least we have such a thought, that she was manipulated in her role as Senator. Has she really understood the full implications of the amendment? We have our doubts."
Lana Tetuanui had earlier defended herself saying there was no other way to comply with the health act and the amendment would help test victims.
The protests also come after disappointment at attempts to show French Polynesia complicit with France over the tests.
The autonomy statute which underpins the territory's status was changed this year to reflect that French Polynesia's role in the testing wasn't voluntary, but only after protests.
"That's why we have this stance towards the local French Polynesian government as we have the impression that the current majority in government wants to rewrite history by appearing to be caring Polynesians in the management of the nuclear question. On the other hand we recognise this is a very dishonest rewrite of what has happened and how the 193 tests came about which continue to have a disastrous impact. Ever since the creation of Association 193 we have never had a good relationship with the Fritch government simply because we have never had a meeting with an honest dialogue partner. We have the impression that they blow hot or cold trying to win the trust of the people. Concerning the tests, our position has always been that the French state asks French Polynesians for forgiveness, that France really recognises the damage caused by the nuclear tests and does that in making reparations. Therefore we have a rather tense relationship with the French Polynesian government."
This week's march will also be attended by other veteran groups, which are also struggling to get compensation for the test victims.
