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Paper short abstract

The residues left by France's nuclear tests in Algerian Sahara raise two questions: Are these enduring material lives a continuation of colonial violence? How are the transformations of supposedly diluted residues in a supposedly empty area determined and known by radiological experts?

Paper long abstract

The 15 nuclear bomb tests lead by France in the Algerian Sahara between 1960 and 1966 have enduring material lives in the form of long-lasting residues (Boudia et al. 2021, Felt 2025): vitrified sands, radioactive lava, half-buried irradiated materials, non-decommissioned facilities, circulating radionuclides. These continuously evolving materials have been the subject of a handful of reports, minimal governance (Hecht 2023), and, in recent years, conflicts over memory and responsibility between Algeria and France.

Drawing on reports and archival materials from the French army, the IAEA, critical expert groups, and interviews with experts, I will ask:

1. Are these lingering material lives a continuation of colonial violence (Liboiron 2021)? The tests and hasty abandonment of the sites happened during the troubled times of colonial war and France's short-lived postcolonial control over the Sahara after Algeria's independence. Moreover, the tests relied on contradictory assumptions about the Sahara being empty (yet populated by nomads who helped build the sites) and offering good dilution conditions (yet sequestering radioactivity in the rocks).

2. How are the transformations of these hypothetically diluted residues in a hypothetically empty land determined and known (Gille 2010) several decades later? How do expert inquiries since the 1990s support or contradict the former colonizer's claims? How are the sociomaterial relations in which these residues exist - with people, plants, animals, rocks and winds - made visible (or not)? How is colonial violence made visible (or not) using Geiger counters?

Keywords: nuclear; residues; bombs; radiological expertise; colonial violence; Algeria; France