The Impact of Nuclear Radiation Pollution on Human Health and the Environment in the Algerian Sahara; A Reading of the Morin Law and Compensation for Victims of Nuclear Tests

The nuclear explosions carried out by France in the Algerian Sahara have caused significant damage, whether health-related, psychological, or ecological. Although the prevailing legal trends in the international community tend to ban nuclear tests due to their negative environmental ef-fects—resulting from nuclear radiation emitted either by the nuclear reactions themselves or by the nuclear waste they leave behind—the practical implementation of this prohibition is progress-ing at a slow pace, which does not correspond to the speed and severity of the danger threatening the environment with each nuclear reaction, regardless of its purpose. Algeria was among the coun-tries affected by these nuclear tests, as France conducted 17 nuclear tests in the early 1960s in the cities of "Reggane" and "In Ekker" and "Oued Namous" in southern Algeria. At that time, France exploited the spread of ignorance, poverty, and unemployment in those areas, and the consequenc-es were disastrous for both the environment and human beings.