1995–96 French nuclear tests

1995-1996
Information
Country	France
Test site	Lagoon Area 2, Fangataufa Atoll; Lagoon, Areas 5-7, Moruroa Atoll
Period	1995-1996
Number of tests	6
Test type	underground shaft
Max. yield	97 kilotonnes of TNT (410 TJ)
Navigation
Previous test series	1989–91 French nuclear tests

The France's 1995-1996 nuclear test series^[1] was a group of 6 nuclear tests conducted in 1995-1996. These tests followed the 1989–91 French nuclear tests series .

France's 1995-1996 series tests and detonations

Name [note 1]	Date time (UT)	Local time zone [note 2][2]	Location [note 3]	Elevation + height [note 4]	Delivery, [note 5] Purpose [note 6]	Device [note 7]	Yield [note 8]	Fallout [note 9]	References	Notes
Téthys	5 September 1995 21:29:58.4	TAHT (-10 hrs)	Lagoon, Areas 5-7, Moruroa Atoll ~ 21°50′21″S 138°51′17″W / 21.83918°S 138.8546°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development		8 kt		[1][3][4][5]
Ploutos	1 October 1995 23:29:58	TAHT (-10 hrs)	Lagoon Area 2, Fangataufa Atoll 22°13′21″S 138°44′50″W / 22.22261°S 138.74717°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development	TN-75	97 kt		[1][3][4][5]
Aepytos	27 October 1995 21:59:58.2	TAHT (-10 hrs)	Lagoon, Areas 5-7, Moruroa Atoll ~ 21°50′37″S 138°51′17″W / 21.84364°S 138.8546°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development	TN-75	39 kt		[1][3][4][5]
Phésée	21 November 1995 21:29:58.1	TAHT (-10 hrs)	Lagoon, Areas 5-7, Moruroa Atoll ~ 21°50′53″S 138°51′17″W / 21.84818°S 138.8546°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development		20 kt		[1][3][4][5]
Thémisto	27 December 1995 21:29:58	TAHT (-10 hrs)	Lagoon, Areas 5-7, Moruroa Atoll ~ 21°51′08″S 138°51′17″W / 21.85221°S 138.8546°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development		21 kt		[1][3][4][5]
Xouthos	27 January 1996 21:29:57.8	TAHT (-10 hrs)	Lagoon Area 2, Fangataufa Atoll 22°13′21″S 138°44′32″W / 22.22243°S 138.74234°W	0 +	underground shaft, weapons development	TN-75	46 kt		[1][3][4][5]

1. The US, France and Great Britain have code-named their test events, while the USSR and China did not, and therefore have only test numbers (with some exceptions – Soviet peaceful explosions were named). Word translations into English in parentheses unless the name is a proper noun. A dash followed by a number indicates a member of a salvo event. The US also sometimes named the individual explosions in such a salvo test, which results in "name1 – 1(with name2)". If test is canceled or aborted, then the row data like date and location discloses the intended plans, where known.
2. To convert the UT time into standard local, add the number of hours in parentheses to the UT time; for local daylight saving time, add one additional hour. If the result is earlier than 00:00, add 24 hours and subtract 1 from the day; if it is 24:00 or later, subtract 24 hours and add 1 to the day. All historical timezone data are derived from here:
3. Rough place name and a latitude/longitude reference; for rocket-carried tests, the launch location is specified before the detonation location, if known. Some locations are extremely accurate; others (like airdrops and space blasts) may be quite inaccurate. "~" indicates a likely pro-forma rough location, shared with other tests in that same area.
4. Elevation is the ground level at the point directly below the explosion relative to sea level; height is the additional distance added or subtracted by tower, balloon, shaft, tunnel, air drop or other contrivance. For rocket bursts the ground level is "N/A". In some cases it is not clear if the height is absolute or relative to ground, for example, Plumbbob/John. No number or units indicates the value is unknown, while "0" means zero. Sorting on this column is by elevation and height added together.
5. Atmospheric, airdrop, balloon, gun, cruise missile, rocket, surface, tower, and barge are all disallowed by the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Sealed shaft and tunnel are underground, and remained useful under the PTBT. Intentional cratering tests are borderline; they occurred under the treaty, were sometimes protested, and generally overlooked if the test was declared to be a peaceful use.
6. Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down.
7. Designations for test items where known, "?" indicates some uncertainty about the preceding value, nicknames for particular devices in quotes. This category of information is often not officially disclosed.
8. Estimated energy yield in tons, kilotons, and megatons. A ton of TNT equivalent is defined as 4.184 gigajoules (1 gigacalorie).
9. Radioactive emission to the atmosphere aside from prompt neutrons, where known. The measured species is only iodine-131 if mentioned, otherwise it is all species. No entry means unknown, probably none if underground and "all" if not; otherwise notation for whether measured on the site only or off the site, where known, and the measured amount of radioactivity released.

References

1. Yang, Xiaoping; North, Robert; Romney, Carl (August 2000). CMR Nuclear Explosion Database (Revision 3) (Technical report). SMDC Monitoring Research.
2. "Timezone Historical Database". iana.com. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
3. Capcom Espace (2005). "Les essais nucleaire Francaispublisher=Capcom Espace". Retrieved December 20, 2013.
4. La Dimension Radiologique des Essais Nucleaires Francais en Polynesie (PDF) (Technical report). Ministry of Defense. March 1, 2007. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
5. "The Radiological Situation at the Atolls of Mururoa and Fangataufa, Main Report" (PDF). Vienna, Austria: International Atomic Energy Agency. 1998. Retrieved December 19, 2013.