France and weapons of mass destruction 589091 222859616 2008-07-01T13:38:20Z 86.68.28.136 /* History */ {{FixBunching|beg}} {{Infobox nukes | country_name=France| image_location= LocationFrance.png| program_start= | first_test= February 13, 1960| first_fusion= August 24, 1968| last_test= December 28, 1995| largest_yield= '''2.6 Mt''' ([[August 24]], [[1968]])| total_tests= 210| peak_stockpile= | current_stockpile= 350| maximum_range= | NPT_signatory='''Yes''' (1968, one of five recognized powers)| }} {{FixBunching|mid}} {{WMD}} {{nuclear weapons}} {{FixBunching|end}} [[France]] is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" under the [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]] but is not known to possess or develop any [[chemical weapons|chemical]] or [[biological weapons]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cns.miis.edu/research/cbw/possess.htm |title=CNS - Chemical and Biological Weapons Possession and Programs Past and Present |publisher=Federation of American Scientists |accessdate=2008-03-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/france-priorities_1/disarmament_1109/regulation-of-the-international-arms-trade_5613/france-and-the-chemical-weapons-convention_9113.html |title=France and the Chemical Weapons Convention |publisher=French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs |accessdate=2008-03-21}}</ref> France was the fourth country to test an independently developed nuclear weapon in 1960, under the government of [[Charles de Gaulle]]. The [[Military of France|French military]] is currently thought to retain a weapons [[Stockpile (military)|stockpile]] of around 350 operational [[nuclear warhead]]s, making it the [[List of countries with nuclear weapons#Estimated worldwide nuclear stockpiles|third-largest]] in the world.<ref>[http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/nudb/datab16.asp Table of French Nuclear Forces] ([[Natural Resources Defense Council]], 2002)</ref> 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. France has never ratified the [[Partial Test Ban Treaty]], giving it the capability to conduct nuclear tests. However, it has signed the [[Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty]]. On 28 January 1996 then-President Jacques Chirac said the French military would not conduct any more nuclear tests. France denies currently having [[chemical weapon]]s, ratified the [[Chemical Weapons Convention]] (CWC) in 1995, and acceded to the [[Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention]] (BWC) in 1984. France had also ratified the [[Geneva Protocol]] in 1926. ==History== France was one of the nuclear pioneers going back to the work of [[Marie Curie]], and Curie's last assistant [[Bertrand Goldschmidt]] became the father of the French Bomb. This was discontinued after the war because of the instability of the [[French Fourth Republic|Fourth Republic]] and the lack of finance available[http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/france/nuke.htm]. During the Second World War Goldschmidt invented the standard method for extracting [[plutonium]] while working as part of the British/Canadian team participating in the [[Manhattan Project]]. But after the Liberation in 1945 France had to start again almost from scratch. Nevertheless the first French reactor went critical in 1948 and small amounts of plutonium were extracted in 1949. There was no formal commitment to a nuclear weapons program although plans were made to build reactors for the large scale production of plutonium.<ref name = "ForcedeFrappe">''[http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/France/FranceOrigin.html Origin of the Force de Frappe]'' (Nuclear Weapon Archive)</ref> However, in the 1950s a [[Nuclear power in France|civil nuclear research program]] was started, a byproduct of which would be [[plutonium]]. In 1956 a secret Committee for the Military Applications of Atomic Energy was formed and a development program for delivery vehicles started. In 1957, soon after the [[Suez Crisis]] and the diplomatic tension with both the [[USSR]] and the [[United States]], French president [[René Coty]] decided the creation of the C.S.E.M. in the then French Sahara, a new nuclear tests facility replacing the C.I.E.E.S. [http://www.defense.gouv.fr/content/download/60823/571529/file/SAHARA.pdf]. With the return of [[Charles de Gaulle]] to the presidency of France in the midst of the [[May 1958 crisis]], the final decisions to build a bomb were taken, and a successful test took place in 1960. Since then France has developed and maintained its own [[Force de frappe|nuclear deterrent]]. France was eager to cooperate with other countries on nuclear weapons. In May 1954 the French were far from victory in the war in Indochina against [[Ho Chi Minh]]. At the height of the decisive battle at [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu|Dien Bien Phu]] France's nuclear bosses sent a request to the chairman of the [[United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority|British Atomic Energy Authority]]. It was a shopping list of items that would help them build nuclear weapons including a sample quantity of plutonium "so we can take the steps preparatory to the utilisation of our own plutonium".<ref name=NS>''[http://www.newstatesman.com/200603130011 Britain's dirty secret]'' (article detailing Britain's assistance to foreign nuclear programs, the ''[[New Statesman]]'', [[13 March]] [[2006]])</ref> Before the letter even arrived the French had lost the battle and negociations had been opened but later that year the French prime minister, [[Pierre Mendès-France]], made the formal decision to build the atom bomb. Britain agreed to supply the requested nuclear materials, including enriched uranium. Among the most important parts of the agreement was an arrangement for the British to check the blueprints and construction of French plutonium production reactors. There remained France's request for plutonium. In 1955 Britain agreed to export ten grams but "...we would not tell the US that we were going to give the French plutonium nor about any similar cases...".<ref name="NS"/> In 1956 the French agreed to secretly build the Dimona nuclear reactor in Israel and soon after agreed to construct a reprocessing plant for the extraction of plutonium at the site. The intervention of the United States in the [[Suez Crisis]] in the same year is also credited with convincing France that it needed to accelerate its own nuclear weapons program to remain a [[global power]].<ref>''Stuck in the Canal'', Fromkin, David - Editorial in the ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[28 October]], [[2006]]</ref> The following year [[European Atomic Energy Community|Euratom]] was created and under cover of the peaceful use of nuclear power the French signed deals with Germany and Italy to work together on nuclear weapons development.<ref>''Die Erinnerungen'', [[Franz Josef Strauss]] - Berlin 1989, p. 314</ref> The West German Chancellor [[Konrad Adenauer]] told his cabinet that he "wanted to achieve, through EURATOM, as quickly as possible, the chance of producing our own nuclear weapons".<ref>''[http://www10.antenna.nl/wise/beyondbomb/4-2.html Germany, the NPT, and the European Option]'' (WISE/NIRS Nuclear Monitor)</ref> The idea was short-lived. In 1958 De Gaulle became President and Germany and Italy were excluded. ==Testing== There were 210 French nuclear tests from 1960 until 1996. 17 of them were done in the Algerian Sahara between 1960 and 1966, starting in the middle of the [[Algerian War]] (1954-1962). 193 were carried out in [[French Polynesia]]. ===Saharan experiments centers (1960-1966)=== {{see-all|Gerboise Bleue|Agathe (atomic test)}} sponburgh A series of atmospheric tests was conducted by the ''Centre Saharien d'Expérimentations Militaires'' ("Saharan Military Experiments Center") from February 1960 until April 1961. The first French atmospheric [[nuclear test]], called "''Gerboise bleue''" ("blue jerboa") took place on [[13 February]] [[1960]] in the French [[Sahara]], during the [[Algerian War]] (1954-62). The explosion took place at 40 km from the military base of [[Reggane]], which is the last town on the [[Tanezrouft]] Track heading south across the Sahara to [[Mali]], and 700 km south of [[Béchar]] <ref>[http://www.senat.fr/rap/o97-179/o97-1799.html French Senate report #179: The first French tests in the Sahara]</ref>. The device had a 70 kiloton yield. Although Algeria became independent in 1962 France continued nuclear tests there until 1966 although the later tests were underground rather than atmospheric. The General [[Pierre Marie Gallois]] was named ''le père de la bombe A'' ("Father of the A-bomb"). Three others atmospheric tests were carried out from 1st April 1960 to 25 April 1961. These four atmospheric tests were carried out at with a forward base at [[Hammoudia]] near Reggane. Military, workers and the nomadic Touareg population of the region assisted to these explosions, without any protection. At most, a shower after each test according to ''[[L'Humanité]]'' <ref name="Hum"> [http://www.humanite.presse.fr/journal/2007-02-21/2007-02-21-846342 La bombe atomique en héritage], ''[[L'Humanité]]'', February 21, 2007 {{fr icon}}</ref>. [[Gerboise Rouge]] (5kt), the third atomic bomb, half as powerful as [[Hiroshima]], exploded on 27 December 1960, provoking protests from [[Japan]], [[USSR]], [[Egypt]], [[Morocco]], [[Nigeria]] and [[Ghana]]. <ref> [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/27/newsid_2985000/2985200.stm 1960: France explodes third atomic bomb], ''[[BBC]]'' On This Day {{en icon}}</ref> After the independence of Algeria on 5 July 1962, following the 19 March [[Evian agreements]], the French military moved to [[In Ecker]], also in the Algerian Sahara. The Evian agreements included a secret article which stated that "Algeria concede... to France the use of certain air bases, terrains, sites and military installations which are necessary to it [France]" during five years. The C.S.E.M. was therefore replaced by the ''Centre d'Expérimentations Militaires des Oasis'' ("Military Experiments Center of the Oasis") underground tests facility. Experimentations lasted from November 1961 until February 1966. The 13 underground tests were carried out at [[In Ekker]], 150 km north of [[Tamanrasset]], from 7 November 1961 to 16 February 1966. By July 1st, 1967, all French facilities were evacuated. An accident happened on May 1, 1962, during the "[[Beryl incident|Béryl]]" test, four times more powerful than Hiroshima and designed as an underground shaft test.<ref>[http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/France/FranceOrigin.html France's Nuclear Weapons]</ref> . Due to improper sealing of the shaft, radioactive rock and dust were released into the atmosphere. Nine soldiers of the 621st Groupe d'Armes Spéciales unit were heavily contaminated by [[radiation]].<ref>[http://www.defense.gouv.fr/content/download/60823/571529/file/SAHARA.pdf Dossier de présentation des essais nucléaires et leur suivi au Sahara]</ref> The soldiers were exposed to as much as 600 mSv. The Minister of Armed Forces, [[Pierre Messmer]], and the Minister of Research, [[Gaston Palewski]], were present. As many as 100 additional personnel, including officials, soldiers and Algerian workers were exposed to lower levels of radiation, estimated at about 50 mSv, when the [[radioactive]] cloud produced by the blast passed over the command post, due to an unexpected change in wind direction. They escaped as they could, often without wearing any protection. Palewski died in 1984 of [[leukemia]], which he always has attributed to the Beryl incident. In 2006, Bruno Barillot, specialist of nuclear tests, measured on the site 93 [[Sievert|microsievert]]s by hour of gamma ray, equivalent to 1% of the official admissible yearly dose <ref name="Hum"/>. The incident was documented in the 2006 docudrama "Vive La Bombe!"<ref>[http://www.ecovisionfestival.com/edizione2007//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=337&Itemid=168&lang=english VIVE LA BOMBE!]</ref> ===Saharan facilities=== *C.I.E.E.S. (''Centre Interarmées d'Essais d'Engins Spéciaux''): [[Hammaguir]], 120 km southwest of [[Béchar|Colomb-Béchar]]: :used for launching rockets from 1947 to 1967. [http://fuseurop.univ-perp.fr/sahara_e.htm] *C.S.E.M. (''Centre Saharien d'Expérimentations Militaires''): [[Reggane]], west of [[In-Salah]], [[Tanezrouft]]: :used for atmospheric tests from 1960 to 1961. *C.E.M.O. (''Centre d'Expérimentations Militaires des Oasis''): [[In Ekker]], in the [[Hoggar]], 150 km from [[Tamanrasset]], [[Tan Afella]] mount: :used for underground tests from 1961 to 1967. ===Pacific experiments center (1966-1996)=== A total of 193 nuclear tests were carried out in [[Polynesia]] from 1966 to 1996. ===Atmospheric tests at Mururoa & Fangataufa=== {{see|Canopus (nuclear test)}} The French began development of the [[hydrogen bomb]] and built a new test range on the [[French Polynesia]]n islands of [[Mururoa]] and [[Fangataufa]]. On [[24 August]] [[1968]] France succeeded in detonating a thermonuclear weapon - codenamed Canopus - over Fangataufa. A fission device ignited a lithium 6 deuteride secondary inside a jacket of highly enriched uranium to create a 2.6 [[megaton]] blast which left the whole atoll uninhabitable because of radioactive contamination. ===Underground tests at Mururoa & Fangataufa=== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} ===Simulation programme (1996-2010)=== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} == Current nuclear doctrine and strategy == [[Image:USS Enterprise FS Charles de Gaulle.jpg|thumb|200px|French nuclear-powered [[aircraft carrier]] ''[[Charles de Gaulle (R 91)|Charles de Gaulle]]'' and the American nuclear-powered carrier [[USS Enterprise (CVN-65)|USS ''Enterprise'']] (left), each of which carry nuclear-capable [[fighter aircraft]]]] In 2006, [[France|French]] [[President of France|President]] [[Jacques Chirac]], noted that France would be willing to use nuclear weapons against a state attacking France via terrorist means. He noted that the French nuclear forces had been configured for this option.<ref>''[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4627862.stm France 'would use nuclear arms']'' - [[BBC]] news, Thursday 19 January 2006</ref> On 21 March 2008, President [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] announced that France will reduce its plane-based nuclear arsenal (which currently consists of 60 TN-81 warheads) by a third (i.e. 20 warheads), thus bringing the total French nuclear arsenal to less than 300 warheads.<ref>http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/france/politique/0,,3784844,00-mise-eau-terrible-devant-sarkozy-.html</ref><ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/22/wsarko222.xml</ref> ==Anti nuclear tests protests== {{see|Nuclear-free zone#New Zealand}} <!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Canopus test.jpg|thumb|190px|French H-bomb [[Canopus (nuclear test)|Canopus]]' 2.6mt mushroom (1968).]] --> *By 1968 only France and China were exploding nuclear weapons in the open air and the contamination caused by the H Bomb blast led to a global protest movement against further French atmospheric tests <ref name = "ForcedeFrappe"/>. *From the early 1960s New Zealand peace groups [[CND]] and the Peace Media had been organising nationwide anti nuclear campaigns in protest of [[Nuclear testing|atmospheric testing]] in [[French Polynesia]]. These included two large national [[petitions]] presented to the New Zealand government which led to a joint [[New Zealand]] and [[Australian]] Government action to take France to the [[International Court of Justice]] (1972). [http://www.disarmsecure.org/publications/papers/index.html] *In 1972, [[Greenpeace]] and an amalgam of [[New Zealand]] peace groups managed to delay nuclear tests by several weeks by trespassing with a ship in the testing zone. During the time, the skipper, [[David McTaggart]], was beaten and severely injured by members of the French military. *In 1973 the New Zealand Peace Media organised an international frotilla of protest yachts including the Fri, Spirit of Peace, Boy Roel, Magic Island and the Tanmure to sail into the test exclusion zone.[http://library.bullerdc.govt.nz/cgi-bin/library/liinquiry?acc=00000711] *In 1973, [[New Zealand Prime Minister]] [[Norman Kirk]] as a symbolic act of protest sent two navy frigates, [[HMNZS Canterbury (F-421)|HMNZS Canterbury]] and [[HMNZS Otago]], to Mururoa.[http://www.mururoavet.com/] They were accompanied by [[HMAS Supply|HMAS ''Supply'']], a fleet oiler of the [[Royal Australian Navy]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Frame |first=Tom |authorlink=Tom Frame (bishop) |title=No Pleasure Cruise: the story of the Royal Australian Navy |year=2004 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=Crows Nest |isbn=1-74114-233-4 |pages=p 251}}</ref> *In 1985 the Greenpeace ship ''[[Rainbow Warrior (1978)|Rainbow Warrior]]'' was [[sinking of the Rainbow Warrior|bombed and sunk]] by the French [[Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure|DGSE]] in [[Auckland]], [[New Zealand]], as it prepared for another protest of [[nuclear test]]ing in French military zones. One crew member, [[Fernando Pereira]] of [[Portugal]], photographer, drowned on the sinking ship while attempting to recover his photographic equipment. Two members of DGSE were captured and sentenced, but eventually repatriated to France in a controversial affair. *French president [[Jacques Chirac]]'s decision to run a nuclear test series at [[Mururoa]] in 1995, just one year before the [[Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty]] was to be signed, caused worldwide protest, including an [[embargo]] of French wine. These tests were meant to provide the nation with enough data to improve further nuclear technology without needing additional series of tests.<ref>''[http://www.senat.fr/rap/o97-179/o97-1798.html#toc32 Les essais nucleaires]'' - report of the [[French Senate]] (in [[French language|French]])</ref> *The [[Military of France|French Military]] conducted more than 200 [[Nuclear testing|nuclear tests]] at Mururoa and [[Fangataufa]] atolls over a thirty year period ending 1996, 40 of them atmospheric. In August 2006 people of French Polynesia welcomed an official report by the [[Government of France|French government]] confirming the link between an increase in the cases of [[thyroid cancer]] and France's atmospheric nuclear tests in the territory since 1966. <ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/ra/pacbeat/stories/s1703767.htm Radio Australia - Pacific Beat - FRENCH POLYNESIA: Nuclear veterans welcome report's findings<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> <ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,1676238,00.html French accused of Pacific nuclear cover-up | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> == Veterans' associations and symposium == An association gathering veterans of nuclear tests (AVEN, Association des vétérans des essais nucléaires) was created in July 2002. Along with the Polynesian NGO [[Moruroa e tatou]], the AVEN announced on 27 November 2002 that it would depose a complaint against X (unknown) for involuntary homicide and putting someone's life in danger. On [[7 June]] [[2003]], for the first time, the military court of [[Tours]] granted an invalidity pension to a veteran of the Sahara tests. According to a poll made by the AVEN with its members, only 12% have declared being in good health. <ref name="Hum"/>. An international symposium on the consequences of test carried out in Algeria took place on 13 and 14 February 2007, under the official oversight of President [[Abdelaziz Bouteflika]]. 150,000 civilians &mdash; without taking into account the local population &mdash; are estimated to have been on the location of nuclear tests, in Algeria or in French Polynesia <ref name="Hum"/>. ==Non-nuclear WMD== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} France denies currently having [[chemical weapon]]s, ratified the [[Chemical Weapons Convention]] (CWC) in 1995, and acceded to the [[Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention]] (BWC) in 1984. France had also ratified the [[Geneva Protocol]] in 1926. ==See also== *[[Force de frappe]] *[[Weapons of Mass Destruction]] *[[List of states with nuclear weapons]] *[[:fr:Simulation (programme nucléaire)|French 'Simulation' project]] (to replace live nuclear testing) (''in French, French Wikipedia'') *[[Nuclear-free zone#New Zealand|Nuclear-free zone - New Zealand]] *[[Moruroa]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * Video archive of [http://sonicbomb.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=112 French Nuclear Testing] at [http://www.sonicbomb.com sonicbomb.com] * [http://www.isria.com/en/free/0000024.php A Change in the French Nuclear Doctrine?], Rault, Charles - ''ISRIA'', 25 January, 2006. * [http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/france/index_2701.html Country overview: France] (from the [[Nuclear Threat Initiative]]) * ''[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]'' **[http://www.thebulletin.org/article_nn.php?art_ofn=ja05norris Nuclear Notebook: French nuclear forces, 2005], July/August 2005. **[http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=ja04tertrais Nuclear policy: France stands alone] July/August 2004 * [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4363730934900311131 Greenpeace movie] (on the [[Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior|French bombing of the ''Rainbow Warrior'']], a ship about to protest French nuclear tests) * [http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/basics/nuclear-stockpiles.htm Nuclear Files.org] (current information on nuclear stockpiles in France) [[Category:Military of France]] [[Category:Weapons of mass destruction]] [[br:Arnodoù nukleel gall]] [[fr:Essais nucléaires français]]