- Canopus (nuclear test)
"Canopus" (also "Opération Canopus" in French) was the code name for France's first two-stage thermonuclear test, conducted on
August 24 ,1968 atFangataufa atoll .In 1966, France was able to use fusion fuel to boost
plutonium implosion devices with the Rigel shot.Roger Dautry , a nuclearphysicist , was selected by the CEA to lead the development effort to construct a two-stage weapon. France did not have the ability to produce the materials needed for a two-stage thermonuclear device at the time, so 151 tons ofheavy water was purchased fromNorway and an additional 168 tons from theUnited States . This heavy water went intonuclear reactors in 1967 to producetritium needed for the device.The announcement by France in the late 1960s to test a hydrogen bomb provoked the
People's Republic of China to conduct a full scale hydrogen bomb test of its own onJune 17 ,1967 . [ [http://www.atomicforum.org/france/1968.html Atomic Forum; French Atmospheric Nuclear Testing Series - 1968, ] ]France was to test the new device as part of a 5 shot series conducted at the
nuclear testing grounds inFrench Polynesia . The device weighed three tons and used alithium deuteride secondary stage with a highlyenriched uranium jacket primary.Fangataufa was selected as the location of the shot due to its isolation in respect to the main base on
Mururoa . The device was suspended from a largehydrogen filledballoon . It was detonated at 18:30:00.5GMT with a 2.6megaton yield at an altitude of 1800 feet. As a result of the successful detonation, France became the 5th thermonuclear nation.The 1998 film Godzilla uses this particular test as the basis for the monster
Zilla , an infantgreen iguana mutated by the fallout from the blast. (However, the footage in the movie is actually from the Baker Test in 1946.)ee also
*
Gerboise Bleue (French atmospheric A-bomb)
*Agathe (atomic test) (French underground A-bomb)
*Force de frappe
*Nuclear weapons and France
*List of states with nuclear weapons Notes
External links
* [http://atomicforum.org/france/france.html France's Nuclear Weapons Program] at the [http://www.atomicforum.org Atomic Forum]
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