ZBECLASSHKED 71 Authority g Stem He men DISSEM DEPARTMENT-CF STATE BUREAU OF INTELLIGENCE AND RESEARCH Rasearch Msmorandum may 22 1963 TO The-Actihg S cr tary THRUUGH 5 5 ERQM 2 INR - Thcmas L Hughesr L SUBJECT a French'Nudlear TeSting Site in tha Pacific Plans and Regercussionsn This memtrandum prepared at the req est qf Bureau of Far Eaatern Affairs summarizes what we know of rench plans for establishing a nuclear testing site in P lynesia and considers existing and likely reaetions ABSTRACT France is in the PPOQGSS 0f establishitg a nuclear testing site in the Pacific approkimately 600 nautical miles east of Tahiti OnLy in NEW Zealand has there been a strong reactia to French plans to date As preparatiom for the site and Mating precead hawwvar itwis likely that there will be a wider nega- tive response ang increasing demands fer a nuclear free scattern hemisphere French Piana nuclear teating installations fram the Sahara to the Etaific have been increasingly mentioned in press and other reports tinge mid l962 Paris has made n0 official announcement to this affect and the Ibfense Ministry has ref sed to comment publicly on repdrtad plant In response to Australiang mbaS y Queries howevvr Franck Foreign Minister some 39 Murvule stated that a Paci c site for rmlear tasting would be selected befofe the end-0f the year Mbreoter Frennh General 38am Thiry_in a May 1 press interview stated that Ftanae' nuclaar test site in the Pacific bula be fully'eperational by 1966 information item affieial sources indicates that a mt laar and thermanuclear'testing ground will be established in the Tuammta- Archipelaga 600 nautical miles east of Tahiti 2 360 nautical miles northeast of NEW Zealand and 3 500-miles west 0f 6hile lth ugh earlier reports suggeated-that the islamd of-Mangareva wadid'be selected as the testing sitegiMururoa a small uninhabited atolb noW'saems mare likely Fangataufa also an uninhabited igland will reportedly be used as an abservation baae while an dbservatary will be establiehad on Ttreia Te support the operations a large intarnaticnal clags airfield will be constructed on the Iaiand ef Tahiti will serve as rear' base with supply warehousas laboratories medical services and other facilities Tahitian newspapers have alga reparted that 300 military enginear arrived in Tahiti in may t0 commence work on the Mtruroa base GROUP TEwngradeafat 3 ytar 7 intervals declassified after 12 years Authority FOREIGN EISSEM I WT with eimilar neMber arriving shertly thereafter to begin werk on the Bee airfield Lecel thin efficiai cirCIee end the business community in Papeetes Tahiti there appear to be ne'reel abjectiene toward the eet bliehment of military base in Tahiti The general attitude of the populace appears t0 be that the fineneial benefits that weuld accrue to French Pelyneeie free such a weeld far outweigh any disadvantages er ether wiee By and large hewever the population is strongly against the use of a base fer teeting nueleer werheade5 as was reflected in the Quteber 1962 elections when elmeet all political parties eepperted the eetebliehment ef a military but its use fer teeting Fereige Reectiene Unly in New Zeelend have there been strong_peblie te reperted French plane Semefdieqeiet has been by the Chief Magistrate of Pitcairn Ielen The Government of Chile like New Zealend end Australia has officially'qeeried the French as to their pleas United attens Secretery General UgThent has the French t0 deeiet from any testing in the Peei ic The enly known blue frem Budapest in Arabic to the on April 5 1963 and frem Petping in Chinese on Hey The Bengerien repeated an Australian compeey e eeneuneement that teehnieiane were due to arrive in' Tehiti in April 1963 te prepare fer French nuclear tests in the Gambier Ielende The Chinese broadcast repeated a Penis eiepateh summarizing Freneh plane es described by Feeneh Air Force General th Thiry It New Zealend where there ie a streeg dieteete fer nuclear testing by any eoentry aeneery'l963 from Perie en French plane teeched eff wide range e critieiem Pfime Hinieter Heiyeeke eteted thet the government had no efficiel cenfitmetieh ef-the reperte but if eueh eenfirmew tion eere received N9w32eelend Weeld pretest sea urge the French to Eaten eider their ef eetien The I recter ef the Beminien Xk ey'and Radium taberetery warned that any French teete in'thet area weeld be mere dengereue to New Zeelend than the united States teete in 1962 Preminent New Zeelend eelentiet Sir'Erneet_MEreden cendemned the propoeed tests Fermer apposition Leader Welter Nest deseribed the repe ted French decision ee 3 great pity and Nerdmeyer lxeeder of the appesitiengsreetated Labor's oppeeitien to teeting by enwbedyy anywhere Geneern tee else expreesed by the press and a nutter of organizations including net en1y the New Zeelend Communiet Party and pacifiet greupe as the New Zeelend Peace Geuneil and the Movement for International Ceeperetien and Dieermements but also by the paeerful Fe eretien ef neber the Amalgamated Seeiety ef Reilwey Servente9 and the University of GantertUry Scheel the new Zeelend Ftderetion ef Laber intimated that it weeld ask the New Zeelend Government fer an beyeott of France if the French proceeded with their plane The Federation s president else indieeted he weeld make an eel-remit teem Authority k FOREIEH nIssm he i 3 of the matter with the French labor movement and with the International Confederation of Trade hicne l Prospects for Increased Criticism Although the prospect of a Erench nuclear testing site in the South Pacific has to date aroused reel excitement only in New Zealand unfavor- able reactions ere likely to meant rapidly as Erench preparations become more apparent 7 In Anetrelie where the subject of nuclear testing is net as agitated peelic as it is in new Zealend the Lebcr Party is likely te eeize upennFreneh activities ae an oppc tenity teepeeh its demand fer the establishment of the Southern Hemiephere as a nuclear free zone General public for this pceitien may increase ee further pncepective testing cemee into the ecuthern heniephere The Heneiee Geyernment with only a one-seat working majority_in the Hence cf Repre- sentatives may come under increasing pressure nuclear free zone concept and to oppose continued testing Similar presences will be felt by the New Zeelend Government which fecee general elections in Nbvenber 1963 Indonesia which cuhmitted a reecluticn_te the Sixteenth General calling fen the pnohibitien of all typee-cf nuclear weapons activity in leie end the recific 'ie likeky tenement propaganda campaign against French plane that will combine entiweolonieliet with antiuteeting arguments Support fer tech a campaign may develop emeng Pacific Ielend territeriee particularly the Independent State of Western Samoa which were gravely concerned ever the 1962 Uhited 8tetee teete in the Pacific Oppositien to the Erench plan may elec-be expected from Chile which in ccncert with Mexico Brazil Ecuador and Mei-vie ie suppertmg the eetebliehment of-e nuclear free zone in Let1n America FOREIGN meem uthorit y 522