In 1966, France was able to use
fusion fuel to
boost plutonium implosion devices with the
Rigel shot.
Robert Dautray (real name Ignatz Koushelewitz), a nuclear
physicist, 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 of
heavy water was purchased from Norway and an additional 168 tons from the United States. This heavy water went into
nuclear reactors in 1967 to produce
tritium needed for the device. France was to test the new device as part of a 5-shot series conducted at the
nuclear testing grounds in
French Polynesia. The device weighed three tons and used a
lithium deuteride secondary stage with a highly
enriched 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 large
hydrogen filled
balloon. It was detonated at 18:30:00.5
GMT with a 2.6
megaton yield at an altitude of . Nominal yield was . As a result of the successful detonation, France became the 5th
thermonuclear nation. A flotilla codenamed Alfa Force led by French aircraft carrier
Clemenceau deployed to the south Pacific during the time of the test. The naval force present around the two atolls massed more than 120,000 tons displacement and represented more than 40% of the tonnage of the entire French navy. == International reactions ==