1983–85 French nuclear tests explained

1983–1985
Country:	France
Test Site:	Lagoon, Areas 5–7, Moruroa Atoll; Rim zone, Areas 1–2, Moruroa Atoll
Period:	1983–1985
Number Of Tests:	25
Test Type:	underground shaft
Max Yield:	80ktTNT
Next Series:	1986–88 French nuclear tests

The France's 1983–1985 nuclear test series was a group of 25 nuclear tests conducted in 1983–1985. These tests followed the 1981–1982 French nuclear tests series and preceded the 1986–1988 French nuclear tests series.

France's 1983–1985 series tests and detonations
- !style="background:#ffdead;"	Name ^[1] !style="background:#efefef;"	Date time (UT) !style="background:#ffdead;"	Local time zone^[2] ^[3] !style="background:#efefef;"	Location^[4] !style="background:#ffdead;"	Elevation + height ^[5] !style="background:#efefef;"	Delivery, ^[6] Purpose ^[7] !style="background:#efefef;"	Device^[8] !style="background:#ffdead;"	Yield^[9] !style="background:#efefef;" class="unsortable"	Fallout^[10] !style="background:#ffdead;" class="unsortable"	References !style="background:#efefef;" class="unsortable"	Notes	- ! Eurytos	18:53:00.2	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Lagoon, Areas 5–7, Moruroa Atoll: Nerite1 ~ -21.8526°N -138.8941°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Automédon	17:32:59	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Rim zone, Areas 1–2, Moruroa Atoll: Therese3 -21.8759°N -138.8506°W	5m (16feet) +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Cinyras	17:31:00.1	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Lagoon, Areas 5–7, Moruroa Atoll: Isurus1 ~ -21.8674°N -138.9408°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Burisis	17:31:00	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Rim zone, Areas 1–2, Moruroa Atoll: Zoe3 -21.8786°N -138.9384°W	5m (16feet) +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Oxylos	17:46:00.2	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Lagoon, Areas 5–7, Moruroa Atoll: Murene1 ~ -21.8532°N -138.9033°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Battos	20:30:00	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Rim zone, Areas 1–2, Moruroa Atoll: Pieuvre1 ~ -21.8525°N -138.8754°W	5m (16feet) +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Carnabon	17:14:00.2	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Lagoon, Areas 5–7, Moruroa Atoll: Pieuvre2 ~ -21.8479°N -138.8754°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Linos	16:58:00	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Rim zone, Areas 1–2, Moruroa Atoll: Zoe4 -21.8747°N -138.9391°W	5m (16feet) +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Gyges	17:28:00.3	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Lagoon, Areas 5–7, Moruroa Atoll: Labre1 ~ -21.8537°N -138.9128°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Démophon	17:26:00	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Rim zone, Areas 1–2, Moruroa Atoll: Ara7 -21.8832°N -138.9523°W	5m (16feet) +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Midas	17:31:00.0	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Lagoon, Areas 5–7, Moruroa Atoll: janie2 ~ -21.8597°N -138.9312°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Aristée	17:16:00	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Rim zone, Areas 1–2, Moruroa Atoll: Dahlia8 -21.876°N -138.855°W	5m (16feet) +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Echemos	17:44:00.0	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Lagoon, Areas 5–7, Moruroa Atoll: Murene3 ~ -21.8442°N -138.9033°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Machaon	17:16:00.4	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Rim zone, Areas 1–2, Moruroa Atoll: Fuschia4 -21.8739°N -138.9336°W	5m (16feet) +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Acaste	20:45:00.1	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Lagoon, Areas 5–7, Moruroa Atoll: Hippocampe1 ~ -21.8702°N -138.9505°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Milétos	16:51:00	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Rim zone, Areas 1–2, Moruroa Atoll ~ -21.8346°N -138.8546°W	5m (16feet) +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Memnon	17:29:00.2	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Lagoon, Areas 5–7, Moruroa Atoll ~ -21.8392°N -138.8546°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Cercyon	17:29:00.6	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Rim zone, Areas 1–2, Moruroa Atoll: Yvonne3 -21.8685°N -138.9208°W	5m (16feet) +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Nisos	20:28:00.2	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Lagoon, Areas 5–7, Moruroa Atoll: Exocet8 -21.8692°N -138.9785°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Talaos	17:30:00.6	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Rim zone, Areas 1–2, Moruroa Atoll: Zoe1 -21.88°N -138.9397°W	5m (16feet) +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Erginos	17:40:00	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Lagoon, Areas 5–7, Moruroa Atoll: Pieuvre1 ~ -21.8°N -138.8754°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Héro	17:50:00	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Rim zone, Areas 1–2, Moruroa Atoll: Zoe6 -21.8778°N -138.9367°W	5m (16feet) – 700m (2,300feet)	underground shaft, weapons development	TN-81 ?					- ! Codros	16:35:00.2	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Lagoon, Areas 5–7, Moruroa Atoll: Nerite15 ~ -21.8396°N -138.8941°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Zétes	16:01:00.7	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Rim zone, Areas 1–2, Moruroa Atoll: Simone8 -21.8641°N -138.8254°W	5m (16feet) +	underground shaft, weapons development						- ! Mégarée	17:42:00.1	TAHT (–10 hrs)	Lagoon, Areas 5–7, Moruroa Atoll: Janie3 ~ -21.8542°N -138.9312°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development

Notes and References

The US, France and Great Britain have code-named 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.
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. Historical time zone data obtained from the IANA time zone database.
Web site: Time Zone Historical Database. iana.com. March 8, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140311224729/http://www.ietf.org/timezones/. 2014-03-11. dead.
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.
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.
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.
Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down.
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.
Estimated energy yield in tons, kilotons, and megatons. A ton of TNT equivalent is defined as 4.184 gigajoules (1 gigacalorie).
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.