This French nuclear test took place over Mururoa Atoll in 1971. [Source: BBC]

A study has revealed that France concealed the true impact of its nuclear tests in the Pacific from the 1960s to the 1990s.

Researchers used declassified French military documents, calculations and testimonies to reconstruct the impact of a number of the tests.

They estimated that around 110,000 people in French Polynesia were affected by the radioactive fallout.

Researchers found the number represented “almost the entire” population at the time.

French Polynesia, a French territory made up of hundreds of islands and atolls including Tahiti, was the site of dozens of nuclear tests over 30 years.