Hervé Arbousset (Sous la direction de), L’indemnisation des victimes des essais nucléaires français, Mare&Martin, 2022 (in French) [Hervé Arbousset (under the direction of), Compensation for victims of French nuclear tests, Mare&Martin, 2022]

A book in French on compensation for victims of French nuclear tests has recently been published. This collection of works covers extensive aspects related to this issue, including historical, legislative, sociological, medical, administrative, environmental, as well as foreign cases, written by leading authors in each field. A “must read” book.

From the Summary

• List of authors
• Introduction : The sea, the land and the sky: for a global micro-history of nuclear testing in French Polynesia by Renaud Meltz

THE BODY AND FOUNDATIONS OF COMPENSATION

• The CIVEN: a compensation fund like any other? – Reflections on the legal nature of the committee – by Jonas Knetsch
• The application of the methodology of the Comité d’indemnisation of the Victims of Nuclear Tests from an indemnity and litigation point of view by Marianne Lahana
• The legal nature of the compensation regime for victims of nuclear testing: a concealed no-fault liability of the State! by Thibaut Leleu
• Compensation for victims of French nuclear testing in light of the commissions created in 2010 and 2017 by Hervé Arbousset

VICTIMS AND COMPENSATION

• The issue of causality: a legal approach by Marie Lamoureux
• Scientific (and) or medical causality in the compensation of nuclear test victims by Patrice Baert, M.D.
• The Morin law, between recognition and “secondary victimization” by Yannick Barthe
• Monitoring the application of the Morin Law: feedback from the DSCEN (Polynesian delegation for monitoring the consequences of nuclear testing) by Yolande Vernaudon, Tevaearai Céran-Jérusalémy

COMPENSATION FOR VICTIMS OF NUCLEAR TESTING OUTSIDE FRANCE

• Compensation for victims of nuclear testing in the United States and Russia by Magdalena Stawkowski

ANOTHER VICTIM: THE ENVIRONMENT?

• The long road to the recognition of environmental damage from French nuclear tests and their compensation by Charlotte Touzot-Fadel

From the blurb on the back cover:

The law of January 5, 2010 on the recognition and compensation of victims of nuclear testing provided a response to the tragedies of people who believe they suffered harm as a result of nuclear testing by France. The law was considered imperfect in light of the very low number of compensation cases and was amended several times. More than 10 years later, what assessment can be made? Didn’t the legislator forget another victim: the environment? What solutions have been found abroad for the human and environmental consequences of nuclear testing? This book attempts to answer these and other questions.

From the introduction to the book :

One of the stumbling blocks of the law is the actual, possible or non-existent causal link between the development of a radiation-induced disease and exposure to ionizing radiation as a result of nuclear testing. It was appropriate to study causality from a legal and medical point of view. It was also a question of revisiting the history of the Centre d’expérimentation du Pacifique, of questioning the basis for compensation, of giving the floor to the CIVEN, whose legal nature is questionable, to the Délégation pour le suivi des Conséquences des Essais Nucléaires (Delegation for the Follow-up of the Consequences of Nuclear Tests) and to sociologists. It was also interesting to look at what other States have put in place, without forgetting the impact of nuclear testing on the environment.

See also the review of the book Posted by CERDACCJAC on Feb. 28, 2022, L’INDEMNISATION DES VICTIMES DES ESSAIS NUCLEAIRES, H. Arbousset sous la dir., Mare et Martin, 2022, published in LE JOURNAL DES ACCIDENTS ET DES CATASTROPHES, Centre Européen de recherche sur le Risque, le Droit des Accidents Collectifs et des Catastrophes (UR n°3992).