Was there nuclear testing in French Polynesia?
New study on nuclear testing in French Polynesia reveals France’s ‘censorship and secrecy’ More than 400 claims have been filed against the French government for nuclear tests on French Polynesia between 1966 and 1996. Scientists say about 110,000 people have been affected by radioactive fallout.
When did France do nuclear testing in the Pacific?
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.
Where did the French test their nuclear weapons in the Pacific?
French Polynesia
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.
Why did France do nuclear testing?
By 1962 France hoped in its negotiations with the Algerian independence movement to retain the Sahara as a test site until 1968, but decided that it needed to be able to also perform above-ground tests of hydrogen bombs, which could not be done in Algeria.
When did nuclear testing stop in the Pacific?
1962
Pacific Proving Grounds
Pacific Proving Grounds / Pacific Test Site | |
---|---|
Status | Inactive |
Site history | |
In use | 1947–present (last nuclear test in 1962) |
Test information |
When was the last French nuclear test?
27 January 1996
On 27 January 1996, the last nuclear test explosion by France was conducted at the Moruroa and Fangataufa Atoll test site in the South Pacific. The underground explosion was equivalent to 120,000 tonnes of conventional explosives, six times the force of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
How many nuclear bombs did France test?
210
France and weapons of mass destruction
France | |
---|---|
First thermonuclear weapon test | August 23, 1968 |
Last nuclear test | January 27, 1996 |
Largest yield test | 2.6 Mt (August 24, 1968) |
Total tests | 210 |
Is Mururoa atoll still radioactive?
Outlook. Nuclear tests at Moruroa and Fangataufa ceased in 1996 due to international protest, but the atolls still remain restricted military territory. 30 years after the tests, about half of the radioactive strontium-90 and cesium-137 and all of the plutonium still remains in the archipelago’s air, water and soil.
When did France stop atmospheric nuclear testing?
January 1996
The French Government announced in 1975 that they would end atmospheric testing and move to underground testing at Mururoa. This remained the case until June 1995 when France recommenced testing at Mururoa, finally ending in January 1996.