Algeria and weapons of mass destruction

In 1991, the United States government exposed the covert construction of a nuclear reactor in Algeria, and the Washington Post accused the country of developing nuclear weapons with the help of the Chinese government. The Algerian government admitted it was building a reactor, but denied any secrecy or military purpose. Under international pressure, Algeria placed the reactor under IAEA safeguards, and signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in January 1995. The transparency of its nuclear research programs has been limited to the minimum treaty requirements, which has caused suspicions to persist.

Before, and a couple of years after Algeria's independance, France used bases in the Algerian part of the Sahara (Reggane and In Ekker) to do their nuclear testing.

References

* Ref. cite journal
last = Albright
first = David
authorlink =
coauthors = and Corey Hinderstein
year = 2001
month = May/June
title = Algeria: Big deal in the desert?
journal = Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
volume = 57
issue = 03
pages = pp. 45–52
id =
url = http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=mj01albright
accessdate = 2006-04-16
format = Dead link|date=May 2008
* http://www.atomicarchive.com/Almanac/Testing.shtml