1971–74 French nuclear tests explained

See also: List of nuclear weapons tests of France.

1971–1974
Country:France
Test Site:Colette zone, Moruroa Atoll; Denise zone, Moruroa Atoll; Dindon zone, Moruroa Atoll; Muroroa Atoll, Pacific Test Area (CEP)
Period:1971–1974
Number Of Tests:24
Test Type:air drop, balloon, dry surface
Max Yield:955ktTNT
Next Series:1975–78 French nuclear tests

France carried out a series of 24 nuclear tests from 1971 to 1974 These tests followed the 1966–1970 French nuclear tests series and preceded the 1975–1978 French nuclear tests.

France's 1971–1974 series tests and detonations
- ! Name [1] ! Date time (UT) ! Local time zone[2] [3] !style="background:#efefef;" Location[4] ! Elevation + height [5] ! Delivery, [6]
Purpose [7] ! 		Device[8] ! Yield[9] ! class="unsortable" Fallout[10] ! class="unsortable" References ! class="unsortable" Notes - ! Dioné 19:15:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Denise zone, Moruroa Atoll: Denise ~ -21.83°N -138.88°W 5m (16feet) + 275m (902feet) balloon,
weapons development 		- ! Encelade 19:14:57.3 TAHT (–10 hrs)
Dindon zone, Moruroa Atoll: Dindon -21.8032°N -138.9139°W 5m (16feet) + 450m (1,480feet) balloon,
weapons development 		Induced fallout over Tureia. - ! Japet 21:30:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Denise zone, Moruroa Atoll: Denise ~ -21.83°N -138.88°W 5m (16feet) + 230m (760feet) balloon,
weapons development 		- ! Phoebé 18:30:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Denise zone, Moruroa Atoll: Denise ~ -21.83°N -138.88°W 5m (16feet) + 230m (760feet) balloon,
weapons development 		- ! Rhéa 19:00:00.8 TAHT (–10 hrs)
Dindon zone, Moruroa Atoll: Dindon -21.8747°N -139.0061°W 5m (16feet) + 480m (1,580feet) balloon,
weapons development 		- ! Umbriel 19:00:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Denise zone, Moruroa Atoll: Denise ~ -21.83°N -138.88°W 5m (16feet) + 230m (760feet) balloon,
weapons development 		- ! Titania 18:30:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Dindon zone, Moruroa Atoll: Dindon ~ -21.83°N -138.88°W 5m (16feet) + 220m (720feet) balloon,
weapons development 		- ! Obéron 18:40:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Dindon zone, Moruroa Atoll: Dindon ~ -21.83°N -138.88°W 5m (16feet) + 220m (720feet) balloon,
weapons development 		- ! Ariel 22:30:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Colette zone, Moruroa Atoll: Colette ~ -21.7813°N -138.9047°W 5m (16feet) + 10m (30feet) dry surface,
safety experiment 		TN-60 ? Some report that this was a safety experiment. - ! Euterpe 18:00:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Dindon zone, Moruroa Atoll: Dindon ~ -21.83°N -138.88°W 5m (16feet) + 220m (720feet) balloon,
weapons development 		- ! Melpomène 23:06:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Denise zone, Moruroa Atoll: Denise ~ -21.83°N -138.88°W 5m (16feet) + 270m (890feet) balloon,
weapons development 		TN-60 ? - ! Pallas 18:15:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Denise zone, Moruroa Atoll: Denise ~ -21.83°N -138.88°W 5m (16feet) + 270m (890feet) balloon,
weapons development 		TN-60 ? - ! Parthénope 18:00:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Dindon zone, Moruroa Atoll: Dindon ~ -21.83°N -138.88°W 5m (16feet) + 220m (720feet) balloon,
weapons development 		TN-60 ? - ! Tamara 18:30:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Muroroa Atoll, Pacific Test Area (CEP): 26 km W -21.8886°N -139.277°W 5m (16feet) + 250m (820feet) air drop,
weapons development 		Dropped by a Mirage 3 jet (Mirage III E sn 617). - ! Vesta 15:42:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Colette zone, Moruroa Atoll: Colette ~ -21.7812°N -138.9048°W 0.1m (00.3feet) + 4m (13feet) dry surface,
safety experiment 		- ! Capricorne 17:30:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Dindon zone, Moruroa Atoll: Dindon ~ -21.83°N -138.88°W 5m (16feet) + 220m (720feet) balloon,
weapons development 		TN-70 ? - ! Bélier 17:30:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Colette zone, Moruroa Atoll: Colette ~ -21.7813°N -138.9047°W 0.6m (02feet) + 5m (16feet) dry surface,
safety experiment 		- ! Gémeaux 23:15:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Dindon zone, Moruroa Atoll: Dindon ~ -21.83°N -138.88°W 5m (16feet) + 312m (1,024feet) balloon,
weapons development 		TN-70 ? - ! Centaure 17:00:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Denise zone, Moruroa Atoll: Denise ~ -21.83°N -138.88°W 5m (16feet) + 270m (890feet) balloon,
weapons development 		TN-80 ? - ! Maquis 17:30:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Muroroa Atoll, Pacific Test Area (CEP): 17 km WSW -21.9543°N -139.1701°W 5m (16feet) + 250m (820feet) air drop,
weapons development 		Dropped by a Jaguar A jet (Jaguar A sn 17). - ! Persée 17:30:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Colette zone, Moruroa Atoll: Colette ~ -21.7812°N -138.9047°W 0.6m (02feet) + 5m (16feet) dry surface,
safety experiment 		Some report that this was a safety experiment. - ! Scorpion 00:30:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Dindon zone, Moruroa Atoll: Dindon ~ -21.83°N -138.88°W 5m (16feet) + 312m (1,024feet) balloon,
weapons development 		- ! Taureau 23:45:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Denise zone, Moruroa Atoll: Denise ~ -21.83°N -138.88°W 5m (16feet) + 270m (890feet) balloon,
weapons development 		- ! Verseau 23:30:?? TAHT (–10 hrs)
Dindon zone, Moruroa Atoll: Dindon -21.871°N -139.01°W 5m (16feet) + 433m (1,421feet) balloon,
weapons development 		TN-60 ?

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. The US, France and Great Britain codenamed their test events, while the USSR and China did not, and therefore have only test numbers (with some exceptions  - Soviet peaceful explosions were named). Word translations into English in parentheses unless the name is a proper noun. A dash followed by a number indicates a member of a salvo event. The US also sometimes named the individual explosions in such a salvo test, which results in "name1  - 1(with name2)". If test is canceled or aborted, then the row data like date and location discloses the intended plans, where known.
  2. To convert the UT time into standard local, add the number of hours in parentheses to the UT time; for local daylight saving time, add one additional hour. If the result is earlier than 00:00, add 24 hours and subtract 1 from the day; if it is 24:00 or later, subtract 24 hours and add 1 to the day.
  3. Web site: Time Zone Historical Database. iana.com. March 8, 2014.
  4. Rough place name and a latitude/longitude reference; for rocket-carried tests, the launch location is specified before the detonation location, if known. Some locations are extremely accurate; others (like airdrops and space blasts) may be quite inaccurate. "~" indicates a likely pro-forma rough location, shared with other tests in that same area.
  5. Elevation is the ground level at the point directly below the explosion relative to sea level; height is the additional distance added or subtracted by tower, balloon, shaft, tunnel, air drop or other contrivance. For rocket bursts the ground level is "N/A". In some cases it is not clear if the height is absolute or relative to ground, for example, Plumbbob/John. No number or units indicates the value is unknown, while "0" means zero. Sorting on this column is by elevation and height added together.
  6. Atmospheric, airdrop, balloon, gun, cruise missile, rocket, surface, tower, and barge are all disallowed by the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Sealed shaft and tunnel are underground, and remained useful under the PTBT. Intentional cratering tests are borderline; they occurred under the treaty, were sometimes protested, and generally overlooked if the test was declared to be a peaceful use.
  7. Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down.
  8. Designations for test items where known, "?" indicates some uncertainty about the preceding value, nicknames for particular devices in quotes. This category of information is often not officially disclosed.
  9. Estimated energy yield in tons, kilotons, and megatons. A ton of TNT equivalent is defined as 4.184 gigajoules (1 gigacalorie).
  10. Radioactive emission to the atmosphere aside from prompt neutrons, where known. The measured species is only iodine-131 if mentioned, otherwise it is all species. No entry means unknown, probably none if underground and "all" if not; otherwise notation for whether measured on the site only or off the site, where known, and the measured amount of radioactivity released.

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