The Nuclear Age in the Pacific Islands
This article critically engages with Jean-Marc Regnault’s interpretation of resistance to French nuclear testing in the Pacific, arguing that opposition to nuclear colonialism must be understood through the interconnected histories of racism, decolonization, and indigenous political agency. Drawing on archival records, regional political developments, and transnational anti-nuclear movements, the article contends that Pacific resistance cannot be reduced to external “Anglo-Saxon” influence, but instead emerged from longstanding indigenous activism, regional solidarity, and assertions of human dignity. By situating anti-nuclear mobilization within broader global disarmament campaigns of the post–Cold War era, the analysis demonstrates how Pacific Island governments and civil society actors played a significant role in advancing nuclear-free initiatives, including the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty and advocacy for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The article further highlights the enduring legacies of nuclear testing—environmental contamination, health impacts, and unresolved compensation claims—arguing that nuclear issues remain embedded in contemporary regional politics. Ultimately, it asserts that the struggle for a nuclear-free Pacific is inseparable from ongoing processes of decolonization and self-determination.
Reflection
15 February 2026
Emma-leigh Theobald
"From the beginning of the nuclear age, indigenous peoples of the Pacific have borne the brunt of nuclear weapons testing by France, Britain, andthe United States. Seeking “empty” spaces, the western powers chose toconduct Cold War programs of nuclear testing in the deserts of centralAustralia or the isolated atolls of the central and south Pacific. But theseregions were not “terra nullius,” and a central feature of planning fornuclear testing was a casual racism toward the indigenous inhabitants of the region."
"A meeting held a week later agreed to inform the UK defense minister that“independent authorities agree that. . . . only very slight health hazard topeople would arise, and that only to primitive peoples. Understandably, the “primitive peoples” of the Pacific were not impressed by British attitudes to their safety."
"Anti-nuclear sentiment is still strong among Pacific church, community,and citizens’ groups, such as the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacificmovement. Although nuclear testing in the Pacific has ended, there are stillmany nuclear concerns in the region: proposals to dump nuclear waste on isolated atolls; uranium mining on indigenous peoples’ land; and the testing of a new generation of missile defense and satellite systems, whichthreaten the militarization of space."
What stands out most in this article is the insistence that Pacific resistance to nuclear testing was not peripheral, reactive, or externally orchestrated — it was grounded, local, and deeply connected to dignity, land, and self-determination. Maclellan challenges the idea that opposition to French nuclear testing was driven primarily by Australia or New Zealand, instead placing Pacific Islanders themselves at the centre of the story.
What resonates with me is the way he links nuclear testing to broader structures of colonialism and racism. The language used in British planning documents — describing Pacific peoples as “primitive” and calculating acceptable radiation exposure accordingly — is chilling. It reminds us that nuclear history is not just about geopolitics or deterrence theory; it is about lived experience, hierarchy, and whose lives were considered expendable.
The article also reinforces something I keep returning to in my own research: that nuclear issues did not end when testing stopped. The environmental, health, and political consequences continue to shape communities today. The push for a nuclear-free Pacific is therefore not symbolic — it is part of an ongoing process of justice, memory, and decolonisation.
For me, this piece is a reminder that the Pacific has never been passive terrain in nuclear history. It has been a site of resistance, leadership, and moral clarity.