Algeria

France was the fourth nation to join the “Nuclear Club” when it successfully detonated a large nuclear device in Algeria in 1960. Over the next five years, France conducted 17 nuclear weapons tests at two locations in Algeria. Four were atmospheric tests and 13 were detonated underground.

A 2005 report published by the International Atomic Energy Agency describes the failure of an attempt to contain the Béryl test on 1 May 1962 on the  north-east side of the test site at Taourirt Tan Afella. A spiral shaped tunnel which opened into the firing chamber had been designed to be closed off by the shock wave before the lava could reach the entrance of the tunnel. However, blocking of the main tunnel did not take place as planned. Between 5 and 10 percent of the test product’s activity escaped as lava, aerosols and gaseous products.

Tropical islands selected as location for nuclear teats

With Algeria’s independence in 1962, the French Defense Department started to look for alternative test sites. The uninhabited islands of Moruroa and Fangataufa in the South Pacific were chosen, with the main argument for the selection being that only 5,000 inhabitants lived within a 1,000 km radius of the proposed testing areas. However, the atoll of Tureia, with around 60 inhabitants, was only 100 km away from Moruroa and thus remained within the zone designated as dangerous.

France was not a signatory to the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) and established the Centre d'experimentation du Pacifique (CEP) at Moruroa in 1966. A total of 193 atmospheric and underground tests were conducted in the region over the next 30 years.

There have been several reported cases of rain-out i.e. fallout by rain formed by the particles of a nuclear explosion during the testing period. These cases are detailed in a report distributed by the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) and the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research entitled Environmental Effects of French Nuclear Testing.

• One such incident occurred in Samoa, 3,610 km from Moruroa, on 12 September 1966. This was a consequence of the test Betelgeuse the previous day, in which a 120 kiloton bomb hanging under a balloon was exploded at a height of 600 metres in difficult wind conditions.
• After two tests within 17 days in 1966, radiation was measured on the nearby Gambier Islands at five times the permitted annual dose.
• The atoll of Tureia was affected during the test series of June/July 1967, when two French meteorologists on Tureia were evacuated two days after a test and transferred to hospital. A complete evacuation of Tureia took place in 1968.
• Another incident occurred at Tahiti on 19 July 1974, following a test of unknown yield and burst height a couple of days earlier. Radiation equivalent to the entire permitted annual dose was later measured in Tahiti.