French Defense Minister Alain Richard said in a statement on January 19 that France will not publish the secrets on the 193 nuclear tests which were conducted on the Polynesian islands in the South Pacific from 1966 to 1996.

The statement published by the army bulletin "Actu Defense", was in response to a request by a deputy of French Polynesia for an opening of the archives on these tests, in order to prove they did not leave any danger to the health of the locals.

Richard said that according to a decree made in December 1979, all the defense secrets and documents linked with state secrets and secrets of national defense cannot be published in 60 years.

"Taking into account the sensitive character of the documents related to nuclear tests linked with national defense, the texts and the duration it fixes should be strictly respected," he said.

He also recalled a "comprehensive, thorough and independent" study on the effects of the nuclear tests on the health of the locals, which was published by the International Atomic Energy Agency in June 1998 .

The report said, "Clearly, there could be no effect on the health as can be medically diagnosed, and no corrective measure is necessary on the atolls (of Mururoa and Fangataufa) for the purpose of radiological protection." (Xinhua)