« Le SMCB se devait d'être le Maître d'Oeuvre de ces études multidisciplinaires ». Radiological Control and Environnemental Studies of the French Nuclear Tests in the 1960s

Abstract

International audienceWhen the French decided to test their nuclear devices in Polynesia, knowledge of the South Pacific environment was scarce, even though it was a key factor in controlling radioactivity and protecting health. The Service Mixte de Contrôle Biologique, created in 1964, was dedicated to studying the effects of the tests on the environment and in particular on non-human living organisms. The presentation will focus on the process developed by the SMCB to gather information on the local environment and monitor contamination of human bodies through the trophic chain. At the heart of this study, civilian scientists under contract to the Direction des Centres d'Expérimentations Nucléaires (DirCEN) contributed their knowledge of the Pacific environment to enlighten the military, doctors and atomic scientists and help them design a process for assessing the direct and indirect impact of detonations on the environment. How did these scientists interact with those in charge of the nuclear tests? How did their tasks and personal motivations fit into the nuclear framework of the DirCEN? We will focus on two moments in this collaboration to explore the agentivity of these contractors and their influence on the creation of an environmental monitoring system: firstly, the two-year period preceding the tests, when the biologists and the SMCB carried out the first environmental studies and chose the means of monitoring radioactivity in the natural world, and secondly, the aftermath of the first test campaign. A comparison between the initial framework and its actual application shows some divergences and reveals the variety of motivations underlying environmental monitoring. It also shows that despite these differences, scientists took advantage of such an opportunity to advance science with real agency, while the DirCEN took advantage of the precise and technical knowledge of these scientists to strengthen its control over the trophic chain