Aug 24 1968
From The Space Library
France became fifth nation to explode hydrogen bomb-joining U.S., U.S.S.R., U.K., and Communist China-when she detonated two-megaton balloon-borne device 1,800 ft above Fangataufa Atoll in Pacific. French Defense Minister Pierre Messmer later told press conference device weighed 11/2-2 tons and compared favorably with devices detonated by U.S. in 1956. He stressed that fallout would be minimal because of explosion's altitude and "particularly satisfactory" weather conditions. He also revealed that France's new submarine missile had become operational with final explosion July 16 and predicted that French armed forces could be equipped with nuclear weapons within several years. (AP, W Post, 8/25/68, Al; Hess, NYT, 8/28/68, 4; Fenton, B Sun, 8/28/68, A2)
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