PARIS, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Radiation from French nuclear tests in the Sahara desert in 1960 reached Spain and west Africa despite claims the levels were low, a report says.
Citing a newly-discovered map, Le Parisien newspaper says fallout from the Gerboise Bleue bomb reached as far north as western Sicily and southern Spain two weeks after the test, Radio France International reported Friday.
Radiation from the test, in the Algerian desert, was also detected as far south as Nigeria and the Central African Republic, the map showed.
Dangerous levels of iodine-131 and cesium-137 were found in Chad's capital as well as southern Algeria.
The French military claimed in documents declassified last year in a lawsuit by veterans of the tests that doses of the radiation were low.
Fatima Benbraham, an attorney representing 30 cases in Algeria, said the map shows Algeria and virtually the entire Sahara region were contaminated by the tests.
She said none of her clients have received compensation "because we don't have proof that they were in the very limited zoned laid down by the law relating to damages."
Benbraham said she hoped information provided by the map would force France to review the law and enlarge the affected areas.
Some 210 nuclear tests were conducted by France in Algeria and Polynesia between 1960 and 1996.
French military veterans present during the tests have fought for compensation for years after developing cancer and other diseases. Only a small number of cases have been accepted.
