Nuclear Shadows: Nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific and the Fijian response: 1966-1975

At a time of decolonisation, the Pacific became a nuclear “proving ground” for successive colonial powers, with 315 explosive nuclear weapons tests conducted between 1946 and 1996 in the region. This thesis examines Fiji in the first period of French nuclear testing in the region (1966-1975). Fiji acted as the geographical and activist hub for nuclear resistance in the Pacific. Engaging in critical discourses informed by activism historiography and post-colonial frameworks, the thesis seeks to rebalance dominant narratives through a re-collection of memory, archival discovery and political analysis.