Travel Guide Localite De Mururoa

At 1,250 km south-east of Tahiti, Mururoa is an atoll 28 km long and 11 km wide, with a large pass allowing the passage of large boats. In 1962, General De Gaulle decided to set up the Pacific Experimental Centre (CEP) there, following the Algerian war which prevented the continuation of air tests in the Algerian Sahara. In 1964, the atoll was graciously ceded to the French state.Chosen for its isolation and small population, Mururoa is now infamous for the numerous nuclear tests carried out. At first aerial, until the mid-1970s, they were then underground - the basaltic cone of the Tuamotu volcanoes lends itself perfectly to "safe" explosions. However, some scientists say that these cones are cracked and could collapse at any time, releasing long-term (several million years) radioactive waste. However, due to the need for secrecy, no claim is entirely credible. In any case, the various investigations have shown that the French tests were much more "respectful" of the environment than the Chinese, Russian and American tests. Little consolation...At that time, the populations were moved to the neighbouring atolls, then a major military base was set up there. An airport with the capacity to accommodate large aircraft was built, as well as an electric power plant, a desalination plant, and multiple housing units capable of accommodating up to 3,500 people, with restaurants, cinemas, sports halls, as well as an internal radio and TV. The headquarters of the CEP was located in Pirae, on the outskirts of Papeete.Mururoa was the origin of Polynesia's strong economic growth in the 1960s, and at the same time representative of all the human horror in the midst of this paradise, Mururoa has always been controversial. With the resumption of trials by Jacques Chirac in 1995, the centre was reactivated, provoking a worldwide outcry and unprecedented riots in Papeete. Today, it has closed and is completely demolished; the Territory is considering transforming it into an ornithological nature reserve. It is now inhabited only by a surveillance team, and it is strictly forbidden to go there. Often spelled Moruroa - its real Polynesian name - it was renamed Mururoa by the French in the 1960s to avoid confusion with Moorea.Located 40 km to the south, Fangataufa is the southernmost atoll of the Tuamotus. It suffered the same fate as its neighbour; it is forbidden to go there.