French nuclear firm sponsoring America's Cup yacht

By ANNE BESTON

A French nuclear power company is sponsoring France's entry in next year's America's Cup but it says it is unfair to link its involvement with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior almost 20 years ago.

Nuclear giant Areva will sponsor the French yacht Defi in the event and the French team will be known as Defi Areva.

The company has 50,000 employees and a turnover of about $21 billion and was created from company mergers in the industry just over a year ago.

Spokesman Jacques-Emmanuel Saulnier said there was a huge difference between the activities of Areva and the military nuclear tests carried out by the French in 1985 on Mururoa Atoll.

The Greenpeace protest ship Rainbow Warrior travelled to Mururoa to protest against those tests and was later sunk by a French bomb in Auckland Harbour.

The bombing was carried out by two French agents and caused the death of a Portuguese photographer who was aboard at the time.

The two intelligence agents were arrested and charged with manslaughter but were back in France by 1988. The incident caused a diplomatic row that ultimately led to the resignation of the French Defence Minister, Charles Hernu.

However, Mr Saulnier brushed that aside, saying Areva had been created less than a year ago.

"We should not be held accountable for what happened 20 years ago," he said.

"New Zealanders know very well the difference between civil and military nuclear capabilities. When we explain this to them then they will understand."

He said Areva had a lot of clients in the Pacific, particularly Australia, where the distinction between the two activities was well understood.

The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup, which begins on October 1, will compete against Team New Zealand for the America's Cup from February next year.

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