France Admits Leaks From Nuke Testing

France acknowledged Tuesday that radioactive materials have leaked into the sea from its nuclear tests in the South Pacific but insisted that the quantities were so minimal that they posed no threat to the environment.

The confirmation that radioactive elements such as iodine 131 have seeped into the lagoon near the Mururoa test site seemed likely to revive the storm of protests that followed President Jacques Chirac’s decision to conduct a final series of underground nuclear explosions before signing a global test-ban treaty.