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Reaper1945 (talk | contribs) Most powerful nuclear explosion conducted by France. Tags: Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
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{{Short description|France's largest nuclear test}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox nuclear weapons test
| name = ''Canopus''
| image = French nuclear test Canopus.jpg <!-- Image is under fair use -->
| image_size =
| map_type = French Polynesia
| map_alt =
| map_caption = Location of the test site
| map_size =
| map_dot_label =
| map_dot_mark =
| relief =
| alt =
| caption = ''Canopus'' [[mushroom cloud]]
| country = [[France]]
| test_series = [[1966–70 French nuclear tests|1966–70 series]]
| test_site = [[Fangataufa]], [[French Polynesia]]
| coordinates = {{coord|22|13|40|S|138|38|38|W|display=inline}}
| date = {{Start date and age|1968|08|24|df=y}}
| test_type = [[Nuclear weapons testing#Types|Atmospheric]]
| test_altitude = 520 m
| device_type = Thermonuclear
| yield = 2.6 [[TNT equivalent|Mt]] (10878.4 TJ)
| summary =
| previous_test = ''[[Pollux (nuclear test)|Pollux]]''
| next_test = ''[[Procyon (nuclear test)|Procyon]]''
}}
'''''Canopus''''' (or ''Opération Canopus'') was the [[codename]] of the first [[Nuclear weapons and France|French]] [[Thermonuclear weapons|two-stage thermonuclear]] test. It was conducted by the Pacific Carrier Battle Group (nicknamed ''Alfa Force'') on 24 August 1968, at the Pacific Experiments Centre near [[Fangataufa]] [[atoll]], [[French Polynesia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/11/pdf/rap-oecst/I3571.pdf|title=Rapport sur les incidences environnementales et sanitaires des essais nucleaires effectues par la France entre 1960 et 1996 et elements de comparaison avec les essais des autres puissances nucleaires|last=National Assembly of the French Republic|date=5 February 2001|website=assemblee-nationale.fr|language=French|accessdate=8 August 2020}}</ref> The test made France the fifth country to test a thermonuclear device after the [[United States]], the [[Soviet Union]], the [[United Kingdom]] and [[China]]. It was the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated by France.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Norris |first=Robert S. |date=1996 |title=French and Chinese Nuclear Weapon Testing |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44471493 |journal=Security Dialogue |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=39–54 |issn=0967-0106}}</ref>
In 1966, France was able to use [[nuclear fusion|fusion]] fuel to [[boosted fission weapon|boost]] [[plutonium]] implosion devices with the [[Rigel (nuclear test)|Rigel]] shot. [[Roger Dautry]], a nuclear [[physicist]], was selected by the [[Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique|CEA]] to lead the development effort to construct a two-stage weapon. France did not have the ability to produce the materials needed for a two-stage thermonuclear device at the time, so 151 tons of [[heavy water]] was purchased from [[Norway]] and an additional 168 tons from the [[United States]]. This heavy water went into [[nuclear reactors]] in 1967 to produce [[tritium]] needed for the device {{Citation needed|date=March 2010}}. ▼
== History ==
The announcement by France in the late 1960s to test a hydrogen bomb provoked the [[People's Republic of China]] to conduct a full scale hydrogen bomb test of its own on June 17, 1967.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}<ref>[http://www.atomicforum.org/france/1968.html Atomic Forum; French Atmospheric Nuclear Testing Series - 1968, ]{{Dead link|date=September 2009}}</ref>▼
▲In 1966, France was able to use [[nuclear fusion|fusion]] fuel to [[boosted fission weapon|boost]] [[plutonium]] implosion devices with the [[Rigel (nuclear test)|Rigel]] shot. [[
France was to test the new device as part of a 5
Fangataufa was selected as the location of the shot due to its isolation in respect to the main base on [[Mururoa]]. The device was suspended from a large [[hydrogen]] filled [[balloon]]. It was detonated at 18:30:00.5 [[GMT]] with a 2.6 [[TNT equivalent|megaton]] yield at an altitude of {{convert|1800|ft|disp=flip}}.
A flotilla codenamed Alfa Force led by French aircraft carrier ''[[French aircraft carrier Clemenceau (R98)|Clemenceau]]'' deployed to the south Pacific during the time of the test. The naval force present around the two atolls massed more than 120,000 tons displacement and represented more than 40% of the tonnage of the entire French navy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.netmarine.net/g/dossiers/mururoa/index.htm |title=La Marine à Mururoa |first=Jean-Michel |last=Roche |work=netmarine.net |accessdate=24 October 2014|language=fr}}</ref>
The 1998 film [[Godzilla (1998 film)|Godzilla]] uses this particular test as the basis for the monster [[Zilla]], an infant [[green iguana]] mutated by the fallout from the blast. (However, the footage in the movie is actually from the [[Operation Crossroads|Baker Test]] in 1946.)▼
== International reactions ==
==See also==▼
* [[Gerboise Bleue]] (French atmospheric A-bomb)▼
▲The announcement by France in the late 1960s to test a hydrogen bomb provoked the [[People's Republic of China]] to conduct a full scale hydrogen bomb test of its own on
* [[Agathe (atomic test)]] (French underground A-bomb) ▼
* [[Force de frappe]]▼
== In popular culture ==
▲The 1998 film ''[[Godzilla (1998 film)|Godzilla]]'' uses this particular test as the basis for the
▲== See also ==
▲* ''[[Gerboise Bleue]]'' (French first atmospheric A-bomb)
▲* ''[[Force de frappe]]''
* [[Nuclear weapons and France]]
* [[List of states with nuclear weapons]]
* [[History of nuclear weapons]]
==External links==
*[http://atomicforum.org/france/france.html France's Nuclear Weapons Program] at the [https://web.archive.org/web/20081117094333/http://www.atomicforum.org/ Atomic Forum]
* {{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20081121020036/http://www.point-zero-penelope.org/ Archives sur le Centre d'Expérimentations Nucléaires du Pacifique (C.E.P.) à Moruroa, Hao et Fangataufa]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{Nuclear weapons tests of France}}
[[Category:French nuclear explosive tests]]▼
[[Category:1968 in France]]
[[Category:1968 in French Polynesia]]
[[Category:August 1968 events in Oceania]]
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