French history myths: The French government claimed that Chernobyl nuclear fallout stopped at the border
If a French person is explaining to you why they don't trust the government - which is a fairly regular event - they might sarcastically refer to the French border's radiation-repelling qualities.
Myth: In 1986, when a cloud of radioactive fallout swept across Europe after the Chernobyl disaster, the French government took no measures to protect its population and instead declared "the radiation cloud has stopped at the border".
1986 was an extremely worrying time as the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine - the worst ever nuclear accident - sent a cloud of radioactive material into the air, which prevailing winds blew across Europe.
Officials in the Soviet Union tried to cover up the extent of the disaster, making the situation even more worrying and confusing.
The prevailing winds at the time pushed the nuclear cloud west and then north, so that it passed over Germany and the Netherlands, touching only the eastern-most parts of France before moving north to the UK. Parts of the Vosges and Jura mountains in the east, the Southern Alps and Corsica were the most affected.
As France had relatively little exposure, the government at the time took no special measures to protect the population.
Unfortunately, however, French people could see the very different approach being taken in Germany, where the government distributed iodine pills and warned the public not to eat fresh produce - and this difference gave rise to the theory that France was merely trying to protect its own agriculture industry and was not being honest with the public.
Even after these rumours became widespread, the government took very little action to reassure the population.
The comment "The Chernobyl cloud has stopped at the French border" is usually attributed to Pierre Pellerin, the head of the Service central de protection contre les rayonnements ionisants at the time.
In legal action brought in 2001 by residents of the island of Corsica, the court cleared Pellerin of any suggestion that he had tried to cover up the extend of the radiation cloud, or of claiming that the cloud had stopped at the border.
In 2000, a report titled Birth of a myth: the Chernobyl fallout in France, by the International Nuclear Information System – part of the International Atomic Energy Agency – found that France's official position at the time was accurate and proportional to the relatively low danger.
Unfortunately, the damage created by poor communication was done, and its effects became apparent again during the pandemic, when the Chernobyl 'fact' was often cited as a reason not to trust the government's health advice on Covid.
This article is part of our August series on popular myths and misconceptions in French history.
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Myth: In 1986, when a cloud of radioactive fallout swept across Europe after the Chernobyl disaster, the French government took no measures to protect its population and instead declared "the radiation cloud has stopped at the border".
1986 was an extremely worrying time as the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine - the worst ever nuclear accident - sent a cloud of radioactive material into the air, which prevailing winds blew across Europe.
Officials in the Soviet Union tried to cover up the extent of the disaster, making the situation even more worrying and confusing.
The prevailing winds at the time pushed the nuclear cloud west and then north, so that it passed over Germany and the Netherlands, touching only the eastern-most parts of France before moving north to the UK. Parts of the Vosges and Jura mountains in the east, the Southern Alps and Corsica were the most affected.
As France had relatively little exposure, the government at the time took no special measures to protect the population.
Unfortunately, however, French people could see the very different approach being taken in Germany, where the government distributed iodine pills and warned the public not to eat fresh produce - and this difference gave rise to the theory that France was merely trying to protect its own agriculture industry and was not being honest with the public.
Even after these rumours became widespread, the government took very little action to reassure the population.
The comment "The Chernobyl cloud has stopped at the French border" is usually attributed to Pierre Pellerin, the head of the Service central de protection contre les rayonnements ionisants at the time.
In legal action brought in 2001 by residents of the island of Corsica, the court cleared Pellerin of any suggestion that he had tried to cover up the extend of the radiation cloud, or of claiming that the cloud had stopped at the border.
In 2000, a report titled Birth of a myth: the Chernobyl fallout in France, by the International Nuclear Information System – part of the International Atomic Energy Agency – found that France's official position at the time was accurate and proportional to the relatively low danger.
Unfortunately, the damage created by poor communication was done, and its effects became apparent again during the pandemic, when the Chernobyl 'fact' was often cited as a reason not to trust the government's health advice on Covid.
This article is part of our August series on popular myths and misconceptions in French history.
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