Where does France test nuclear weapons?
The List of nuclear weapons tests of France consists of all the atomic tests the French executed in the areas of Reggane and In Ekker in Algeria and the Mururoa and Fangataufa Atolls in French Polynesia, from 13 February 1960 through 27 January 1996.
Where did we test nuclear weapons?
The Nevada Test Site (NTS), 65 miles north of Las Vegas, was one of the most significant nuclear weapons test sites in the United States. Nuclear testing, both atmospheric and underground, occurred here between 1951 and 1992.
Where did the French test their nuclear weapons in the Pacific?
The study was carried out in collaboration between French news website Disclose, researchers from Princeton University and British firm Interprt. The 41st test took place over Mururoa Atoll on 17 July 1974, when the atomic cloud took a different trajectory than planned.
Who controls French nuclear weapons?
France is estimated to possess 290 nuclear weapons, of which about 280 are deployed. The remaining weapons are thought to be in maintenance or storage. The vast majority, or approximately 240, are deployed by the French Navy, which maintains a continuous at-sea presence via its nuclear-powered submarines.
Why did France test nuclear weapons?
These tests were meant to provide France with enough data to improve further nuclear technology without needing additional series of tests. The test site at Mururoa was dismantled following France’s last nuclear test to date, detonated on 27 January 1996, but the atoll is still guarded by the French Forces.
Where was the nuclear bomb test in France?
The List of nuclear weapons tests of France consists of all the atomic tests the French executed in the areas of Reggane and In Ekker in Algeria and the Mururoa and Fangataufa Atolls in French Polynesia, from 13 February 1960 through 27 January 1996. These totaled to 210 tests with 210 device explosions, 50 in the atmosphere.
Where did France test their weapons of mass destruction?
Immediately after the end of the war, the French military began testing captured German stores in Algeria, then a French colony, notably Tabun, an extremely toxic nerve agent. By the latter part of the 1940s, testing of Tabun-filled ordnance had become routine, often using livestock to test their effects.
What was the yield of the French nuclear bomb?
The plutonium implosion design had a yield of 60 to 70 kilotons, three times the yield of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. France carried out three more atmospheric and 13 additional underground tests in Algeria over the next six years before shifting its test site to the uninhabited atolls of Mururoa and Fangataufa in the Pacific Ocean.
When did France test the nuclear weapon Carayol?
With confirmation now in hand about the right path, France quickly made plans to test Carayol’s design at its Pacific test site. On August 24, 1968 (14 months after the Chinese thermonuclear test), France entered the thermonuclear club with an explosion estimated at 2.6 megatons.