Pierre Mendes-France1954
Secretly initiates a secret programme to develop French nuclear weapons
France · Warfare / Nuclear. Chronological records rendered directly from the World History Database.
Secretly initiates a secret programme to develop French nuclear weapons
France explodes its first atomic bomb in the Sahara desert, it has a yield of 60-70 kilotons
De Gaulle refuses a three power nuclear pact with the United States and Britain
Rejects US offer of Polaris missiles & a 3 country nuclear pact with USA & Britain
France explodes a hydrogen bomb in the South Pacific & becomes the 5th nuclear power
Australia and New Zealand institute proceedings in the International Court of Justice against French atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in the South Pacific
The International Court of Justice, at the request of Australia and New Zealand, states that France should avoid nuclear tests causing radioactive fall-out in the South Pacific
France performs nuclear tests at Muruora Island
Resumes nuclear tests at Mururoa Atoll in French Polynesia. France conducts nuclear tests beneath atolls southeast of Tahiti in French Polynesia, breaking a 1992 test moratorium despite worldwide protests from environmentalists
France carries out a nuclear test equivalent to approximately 120,000 tonnes of conventional explosives, six times the force of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima
Chirac announces an end to nuclear tests, accedes to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
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