Fifty years ago this July, as the waters of the South Pacific rushed toward the shores of Teahupo’o in a perfect, powerful curl, as they have always done, another wave visited the tiny hamlet. This time it was an invisible and airborne one: a surge of radiation escaping from a nuclear weapon test conducted by France in this far-flung reach of their republic.

       Listen to this article with reporter commentary

       Listen · 28:9 min

       Roniu Tupana Poareu was born in Teahupo’o, her family home fringed by palm trees and hibiscus bushes. She now serves as its mayor and speaks proudly of how its azure wave — a platonic ideal of coiled, frothy propulsion — was selected as the site of the surfing competition in these Summer Olympics, being hosted half a world away in Paris.

       Advertisement

       SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

       But Teahupo’o concealed a secret behind its sunny tourist brochure seascape. Unbeknown to its residents, Teahupo’o recorded, according to declassified French military documents, some of the highest radiation readings on Tahiti, French Polynesia’s most populated island, after a radioactive cloud unexpectedly drifted overhead in July 1974.

       Image

       Roniu Tupana Poareu, mayor of Teahupo’o, visiting the grave of her sister, who died this year of radiation-induced cancer.

       Image

       New infrastructure, including a park, bridge and judging tower, was being built for the surfing event of the Olympics.

       Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.