France says it has recognised another 80 claims from French Polynesian people for compensation for the illnesses caused by the nuclear weapons tests.
Photo: AFP
The agency processing claims said the 80 cases had been acknowledged since the beginning of last year.
It said in the preceding eight years it had accepted a total of 11 applications.
Last month, two French experts were in French Polynesia for a week to meet 36 people who lodged compensation claims which will now be assessed.
Reports say another medical expert mission will follow in the second half of this year and meet applicants in the Gambier Islands.
Remnants of the testing infrastructure on Moruroa atoll Photo: AFP
France tested 193 nuclear weapons in the South Pacific over a 30-year period between 1966 and 1996.
Although Paris first recognised a decade ago that the tests could have affected people's health, most applications for compensation have to date been rejected.