When did the French stop nuclear testing?
27 January 1996
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. In total, 181 explosions took place at Moruroa and Fangataufa, 41 of which were atmospheric.
When did France do nuclear testing?
13 February 1960
On 13 February 1960, France conducted its first nuclear test, code-named “Gerboise Bleue” (Blue Desert Rat). The day marked the beginning of a series of four atmospheric nuclear tests at the Reganne Oasis, in the Sahara Desert of Algeria.
What were the French doing in the Pacific 1995?
In June 1995, the French government announced it would carry out eight final underground nuclear bomb tests at Moruroa atoll before ratifying the UN’s comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. The announcement provoked a storm of protest around the Pacific.
How many nuclear tests did France do?
210 tests
These totaled to 210 tests with 210 device explosions, 50 in the atmosphere.
Why did the French stop nuclear testing?
The tests – which all exceeded the size of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs – soured links with France’s closest neighbours, including Germany and Italy. But France claimed that threats of boycotts – especially from Scandinavia and Germany – had rarely been carried through.
What year did Norman Kirk carry out his frigate protest?
Later tests moved underground, but in 1973, when Kirk decided New Zealand would send navy frigates to observe and protest against the tests, they were still mushrooming into the atmosphere.
Why did France test nuclear weapons?
The weapons are part of the national Force de frappe, developed in the late 1950s and 1960s to give France the ability to distance itself from NATO while having a means of nuclear deterrence under sovereign control.
Did France test nuclear weapons on Algerians?
Officially, France carried out a total of 17 nuclear tests in Algeria, the last of which occurred on Feb. 16, 1966, almost four years after Algeria gained independence on July 5, 1962.
When did the French start nuclear testing in the Pacific?
1960s
The French began a nuclear testing program in the Pacific in the 1960s and completed it in the 1990s. For more than forty years, the French government remained secretive about the testing, allowing researchers minimal or no access to either the data it collected or the atolls where the testing took place.
Is there still nuclear testing in the Pacific?
The U.S. tested a nuclear weapon (codenamed Able) on Bikini Atoll on June 30, 1946….Pacific Proving Grounds.
| Pacific Proving Grounds / Pacific Test Site | |
|---|---|
| Status | Inactive |
| Site history | |
| In use | 1947–present (last nuclear test in 1962) |
| Test information |