France and weapons of mass destruction

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France
NPT
party		Yes (1992, one of five recognized powers)
Weapons of mass destruction
By type
By country
Proliferation
Treaties
Nuclear weapons
Photograph of a mock-up of the Little Boy nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in August 1945.
Background
Nuclear-armed states
NPT recognized
United States
Russia
United Kingdom
France
China
Others
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Israel (undeclared)
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Former
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biological weapons.[4][5] France is the only member of the European Union
to possess independent (non-NATO) nuclear weapons. France was the fourth country to test an independently developed nuclear weapon, doing so in 1960 under the government of
nuclear deterrence
under sovereign control.

France did not sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which gave it the option to conduct further nuclear tests until it signed and ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in 1996 and 1998 respectively. France denies currently having chemical weapons, ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1995, and acceded to the Biological 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

High Commissioner for Atomic Energy, told the New York Herald Tribune that the 1945 Smyth Report wrongfully omitted the contributions of French scientists.[8]

After World War II France's former position of leadership suffered greatly because of the instability of the

USAF Counterproliferation Center while France was previously a leader in nuclear research "Israel and France were at a similar level of expertise after the war, and Israeli scientists could make significant contributions to the French effort. Progress in nuclear science and technology in France and Israel remained closely linked throughout the early fifties. Farr reported that Israeli scientists probably helped construct the G-1 plutonium production reactor and UP-1 reprocessing plant at Marcoule."[15]

However, in the 1950s a

CIEES.[17]

In 1957

Euratom was created, and under cover of the peaceful use of nuclear power the French signed deals with West Germany and Italy to work together on nuclear weapons development.[18] The Chancellor of West Germany Konrad Adenauer told his cabinet that he "wanted to achieve, through EURATOM, as quickly as possible, the chance of producing our own nuclear weapons".[19] The idea was short-lived. In 1958 de Gaulle became President and Germany and Italy were excluded.[citation needed
]

With the return of

nuclear deterrent, one intended to defend France even if the United States refused to risk its own cities by assisting Western Europe in a nuclear war.[22]

The United States began providing technical assistance to the French program in the early 1970s through the 1980s. The aid was secret, unlike the relationship with the

Force de Frappe's role as a solely French deterrent, and one coordinated with NATO.[22]

France is understood to have tested

enhanced radiation bombs in the past, apparently leading the field with an early test of the technology in 1967[23] and an "actual" neutron bomb in 1980.[a]

Testing

There were 210 French nuclear tests from 1960 through 1995. Seventeen of them were done in the Algerian Sahara between 1960 and 1966, starting in the middle of the Algerian War. One-hundred ninety-three were carried out in French Polynesia.[25][26]

A summary table of French nuclear testing by year can be read at this article: List of nuclear weapons tests of France.

Saharan experiments centres (1960–66)

Further information:
Agathe (atomic test)

After studying

Sahara Desert, and French Polynesia. Although he recommended against Polynesia because of its distance from France and lack of a large airport, Ailleret stated that Algeria should be chosen "provisionally", likely due in part to the Algerian War.[27]

A series of atmospheric

Gerboise Bleue ("Blue jerboa") took place on 13 February 1960 in Algeria. The explosion took place at 40 km from the military base at Hammoudia near Reggane, which is the last town on the Tanezrouft Track heading south across the Sahara to Mali, and 700 km/435 mi. south of Béchar.[28] The device had a 70 kiloton yield. Although Algeria became independent in 1962, France was able to continue with underground nuclear tests in Algeria through 1966. The General Pierre Marie Gallois
was named le père de la bombe A ("Father of the A-bomb").

Three further atmospheric tests were carried out from 1 April 1960 to 25 April 1961 at

USSR, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Ghana.[30]

After the

Evian agreements, the French military moved the test site to another location in the Algerian Sahara, around 150 km north of Tamnarasset, near the village of In Eker. Underground nuclear explosion testing was performed in drifts in the Taourirt Tan Afella mountain, one of the granite Hoggar Mountains
. The Evian agreements included a secret article which stated that "Algeria concede[s]... 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 nuclear testing facility. A total of 13 underground nuclear tests were carried out at the In Eker site from 7 November 1961 to 16 February 1966. By July 1, 1967, all French facilities were evacuated.

An accident happened on May 1, 1962, during 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 attributed to the Béryl incident. In 2006, Bruno Barrillot, specialist of nuclear tests, measured 93 microsieverts by hour of gamma ray at the site, equivalent to 1% of the official admissible yearly dose.[29] The incident was documented in the 2006 docudrama "Vive La Bombe!.[33]

Saharan facilities
used for launching rockets from 1947 to 1967.[34]
used for atmospheric tests from 1960 to 1961.
used for underground tests from 1961 to 1967.

Pacific experiments centre (1966–1996)

Despite its initial choice of Algeria for nuclear tests, the French government decided to build Faa'a International Airport in Tahiti, spending much more money and resources than would be justified by the official explanation of tourism. By 1958, two years before the first Sahara test, France began again its search for new testing sites due to potential political problems with Algeria and the possibility of a ban on above-ground tests. Many French overseas islands were studied, as well as performing underground tests in the Alps, Pyrenees, or Corsica; however, engineers found problems with most of the possible sites in metropolitan France.[27]

By 1962 France hoped in its negotiations with the

Mururoa and Fangataufa in French Polynesia were chosen that year. President Charles de Gaulle announced the choice on 3 January 1963, describing it as a benefit to Polynesia's weak economy. The Polynesian people and leaders broadly supported the choice, although the tests became controversial after they began, especially among Polynesian separatists.[27]

A total of 193 nuclear tests were carried out in Polynesia from 1966 to 1996.[citation needed] On 24 August 1968 France detonated its first 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.[citation needed]

Simulation programme (1996–2012)

More recently, France has used supercomputers to simulate and study nuclear explosions.[citation needed]

Current nuclear doctrine and strategy

See also: Force de dissuasion
Charles de Gaulle and the American nuclear-powered carrier USS Enterprise (left), each of which carry nuclear-capable fighter aircraft

French law requires at least one out of four nuclear submarines to be on patrol in the Atlantic Ocean at any given time, like the UK's policy.[35]

In 2006, French President Jacques Chirac noted that France would be willing to use nuclear weapons against a state attacking France by terrorism. He noted that the French nuclear forces had been configured for this option.[36]

On 21 March 2008, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that France will reduce its aircraft deliverable nuclear weapon stockpile (which currently consists of 60 TN 81 warheads) by a third (20 warheads) and bring the total French nuclear arsenal to fewer than 300 warheads.[37][38]

France decided not to sign the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.[39]

Anti-nuclear tests protests

Protests in Australia in 1996 against French nuclear tests in Pacific
Further information: Nuclear-free zone § New Zealand

Veterans' associations and symposium

An association gathering veterans of nuclear tests (AVEN, "Association des vétérans des essais nucléaires") was created in 2001.[47] 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.[29] 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.

One hundred fifty thousand civilians, without taking into account the local population, are estimated to have been on the location of nuclear tests, in Algeria or in French Polynesia.[29] One French veteran of the 1960s nuclear tests in Algeria described being given no protective clothing or masks, while being ordered to witness the tests at so close a range that the flash penetrated through the arm he used to cover his eyes.[48] One of several veteran’s groups claiming to organise those suffering ill effects, AVEN had 4,500 members in early 2009.[47]

Test victims compensation

In both Algeria and French Polynesia there have been long standing demands for compensation from those who claim injury from France’s nuclear testing program. The government of France had consistently denied, since the late 1960s, that injury to military personnel and civilians had been caused by their nuclear testing.[49] Several French veterans and African and Polynesian campaign groups have waged court cases and public relations struggles demanding government reparations. In May 2009, a group of twelve French veterans, in the campaign group "Truth and Justice", who claim to have suffered health effects from nuclear testing in the 1960s had their claims denied by the government Commission for the Indemnification of Victims of Penal Infraction (CIVI), and again by a Paris appeals court, citing laws which set a statute of limitations for damages to 1976.[50] Following this rejection, the government announced it would create a 10m Euro compensation fund for military and civilian victims of its testing programme; both those carried out in the 1960s and the Polynesian tests of 1990–1996.[49] Defence Minister Hervé Morin said the government would create a board of physicians, overseen by a French judge magistrate, to determine if individual cases were caused by French testing, and if individuals were suffering from illnesses on a United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation list of eighteen disorders linked to exposure to testing.[49][51] Pressure groups, including the Veterans group "Truth and Justice" criticised the programme as too restrictive in illnesses covered and too bureaucratic. Polynesian groups said the bill would also unduly restrict applicants to those who had been in small areas near the test zones, not taking into account the pervasive pollution and radiation.[52] Algerian groups had also complained that these restrictions would deny compensation to many victims. One Algerian group estimated there were 27,000 still living victims of ill effects from the 1960–66 testing there, while the French government had given an estimate of just 500.[53]

Non-nuclear WMD

France states that it does not currently possess

Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) in 1984. France also ratified the Geneva Protocol
in 1926.

During

German Army initiated a chlorine gas attack against the French Army at Ypres on 15 April 1915, initiating a new method of warfare but failed that day to exploit the resulting break in the French line. In time, the more potent phosgene
replaced chlorine in use by armies on the Western Front, including France, leading to massive casualties on both sides of the conflict however the effects were mitigated by development of protective clothing and masks as the war progressed.

At the outbreak of World War II, France maintained large stockpiles of mustard gas and phosgene but did not use them against the invading Axis troops, and no chemical weapons were used on the battlefield by the Axis invaders.

During the invasion of France, German forces captured a French biological research facility and purportedly found plans to use potato beetles against Germany.[54]

Immediately after the end of the war, the French military began testing captured German chemical agent stores in Algeria, then a French colony, notably the extremely toxic nerve agent Tabun. By the late 1940s, testing of Tabun-filled ordnance had become routine, often by using livestock to test effects.[55] The testing of chemical weapons occurred at B2-Namous, Algeria, an uninhabited desert proving ground located 100 kilometers (62 mi) east of the Moroccan border, but other sites also existed.[56][57] A manufacturing facility existed in Bouchet, near Paris, which was tasked with researching chemical weapons and maintaining a scientific and technological vigilance on the subject.[58]

In 1985, France was estimated to have a chemical weapons stockpile of some 435 tonnes, the second largest in NATO following the United States. However, at a conference in Paris in 1989, France declared that it was no longer in possession of chemical weaponry but maintained the manufacturing capacity to readily produce such weapons if deemed necessary.[59]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ UK parliamentary question on whether condemnation was considered by Thatcher government.[24]

References

  1. ^ "Nuclear Notebook: French nuclear weapons, 2023".
  2. ^ "Nuclear Notebook: French nuclear weapons, 2023".
  3. ^ "Minimize Harm and Security Risks of Nuclear Energy".
  4. ^ "CNS - Chemical and Biological Weapons Possession and Programs Past and Present". Federation of American Scientists. Archived from the original on 2001-10-02. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
  5. ^ "France and the Chemical Weapons Convention". French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Archived from the original on 2008-04-13. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
  6. ^ "Status of World Nuclear Forces".
  7. ^ Table of French Nuclear Forces (Natural Resources Defense Council, 2002)
  8. ^ "NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, EUROPEAN EDITION, 'JOLIOT-CURIE RIPS AMERICA FOR ATOMIC ENERGY REPORT'". Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
  9. ^ "Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD): Nuclear Weapons". GlobalSecurity.org.
  10. ^ a b c Origin of the Force de Frappe (Nuclear Weapon Archive)
  11. ^ "Israel's Nuclear Weapons".
  12. ^ "Israel's Nuclear Weapon Capability: An Overview". Archived from the original on 2015-04-29. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
  13. ^ "Mohammed Omer Wins Norwegian PEN Prize - WRMEA". www.wrmea.org.
  14. S2CID 145456261
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  15. ^ "Israel's Nuclear Weapons". www.au.af.mil.
  16. ^ Stuck in the Canal, Fromkin, David - Editorial in The New York Times, 28 October 2006
  17. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-25. Retrieved 2016-02-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. ^ Die Erinnerungen, Franz Josef Strauss - Berlin 1989, p. 314
  19. ^ Germany, the NPT, and the European Option (WISE/NIRS Nuclear Monitor)
  20. ^ Farr, Warner D (September 1999), The Third Temple's holy of holies: Israel's nuclear weapons, The Counterproliferation Papers, Future Warfare Series, 2, USAF Counterproliferation Center, Air War College, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, retrieved July 2, 2006 https://fas.org/nuke/guide/israel/nuke/farr.htm
  21. ^ "Nuclear Weapons - Israel".
  22. ^
    JSTOR 1148862
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  23. ^ "BBC News - Sci/Tech - Neutron bomb: Why 'clean' is deadly". news.bbc.co.uk.
  24. ^ "French Neutron Bomb". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 16 July 1980.
  25. ^ Treize ans après le dernier des essais nucléaires français, l'indemnisation des victimes en marche. Hervé ASQUIN, AFP. 27 May 2009.
  26. ^ Four decades of French nuclear testing Archived 2010-02-21 at the Wayback Machine. Julien PEYRON, France24. Tuesday 24 March 2009.
  27. ^
    S2CID 154707737
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  28. ^ "RAPPORT N 179 - L'EVALUATION DE LA RECHERCHE SUR LA GESTION DESDECHETS NUCLEAIRES A HAUTE ACTIVITE - TOME II LES DECHETS MILITAIRES". www.senat.fr.
  29. ^ a b c d La bombe atomique en héritage, L'Humanité, February 21, 2007 (in French)
  30. ^ 1960: France explodes third atomic bomb, BBC On This Day (in English)
  31. ^ "France's Nuclear Weapons - Origin of the Force de Frappe". nuclearweaponarchive.org.
  32. ^ Dossier de présentation des essais nucléaires et leur suivi au Sahara Archived September 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  33. ^ "EcoVision Festival - Edizione 2007". 23 January 2009. Archived from the original on 23 January 2009.
  34. ^ "CIEES (Sahara)". Archived from the original on 2017-08-29. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
  35. ^ "Nuclear submarines collide in Atlantic'". The Guardian, February 16th, 2009
  36. ^ "France 'would use nuclear arms'". BBC News, Thursday 19 January 2006
  37. ^ Nucléaire : Mise à l'eau du terrible devant Sarkozy - France - LCI Archived 2009-01-24 at the Wayback Machine
  38. ^ "France cuts its nuclear weapons by a third"[dead link]. The Daily Telegraph (London).
  39. ^ "122 countries adopt 'historic' UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons". CBC News. 7 July 2017.
  40. ^ Question of French nuclear tests in the Sahara. GA Res. 1379 (XIV). UNGA, 14th Sess. UN Doc A/4280 (1959). http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/14/ares14.htm
  41. ^ "Disarmament & Security Centre: Publications - Papers". Archived from the original on 2009-01-24. Retrieved 2013-03-23.
  42. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2013-03-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  43. ^ "Mururoa Nuclear Tests, RNZN protest Veterans". Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  44. ISBN 978-1-74114-233-4
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  45. French Senate
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  46. ^ Lichfield, John (4 August 2006). "France's nuclear tests in Pacific 'gave islanders cancer'". The Independent. London. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  47. ^ a b Les victimes des essais nucléaires enfin reconnues Archived 2009-05-31 at the Wayback Machine. Marie-Christine Soigneux, Le Montange (Clermont-Ferrand). 27 May 2009.
  48. ^ « J’ai participé au premier essai dans le Sahara » DANIEL BOURDON, 72 ans, de Thourotte. Le Parisien. 24 May 2009.
  49. ^ a b c Government earmarks €10 million for nuclear test victims Archived 2009-03-28 at the Wayback Machine. France 24. Tuesday 24 March 2009.
  50. ^ Court denies nuclear test victims compensation Archived 2012-10-20 at the Wayback Machine. France 24. Friday 22 May 2009
  51. ^ Essais nucléaires français au sud de l’Algérie: La France définit six critères[permanent dead link]. "La voix de l’oranie" (Oran, Algeria). 21 May 2009.
  52. ^ Nuclear compensation bill falls short of expectations Archived 2009-05-31 at the Wayback Machine. France24. Wednesday 27 May 2009
  53. ^ VICTIMES ALGÉRIENNES DES ESSAIS NUCLÉAIRES FRANÇAIS. Sur quels critères sera évalué le handicap? Archived 2009-05-21 at the Wayback Machine. L'Expression (Algeria), 18 May 2009, p.24
  54. ISBN 978-0-674-06526-0
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  55. ISBN 978-0-307-43010-6
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  56. ^ "First World War.com - Weapons of War: Poison Gas". firstworldwar.com.
  57. ^ "Chemical and Biological Weapons - France Nuclear Forces".
  58. ^ "La France a testé des armes chimiques près de Paris". L'Obs (in French). 2013-12-26. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
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Bibliography

  • Kristensen, Hans M., and Matt Korda. "French nuclear forces, 2019." Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 75.1 (2019): 51-55. 2019 online
  • Hymans, Jacques E.C. "Why Do States Acquire Nuclear Weapons? Comparing the Cases of India and France." in Nuclear India in the Twenty-First Century (2002). 139-160. online
  • Kohl, Wilfred L. French nuclear diplomacy (Princeton University Press, 2015).
  • Scheinman, Lawrence. Atomic energy policy in France under the Fourth Republic (Princeton University Press, 2015).
  • (in French) Jean-Hugues Oppel, Réveillez le président, Éditions Payot et rivages, 2007 (
    nuclear weapons of France
    ; the book also contains about ten chapters on true historical incidents involving nuclear weapons and strategy (during the second half of the twentieth century).

External links

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