The 1966 French atmospheric nuclear testing campaign was the first series conducted at the Centre d'Expérimentation du Pacifique (CEP). The series featured five nuclear tests and one safety test, including three barge shots, a balloon shot, and France's first air drop of a nuclear device.
Following three years of preparation and over $600 million later, France moved its nuclear testing program to French Polynesia when testing in Algeria was no longer a possibility. 15,000 service men, supported by approximately 40% of France's navy, constructed bunkers, airstrips, living quarters, and all the necessary infrastructure needed to sustain nuclear testing operations in the South Pacific. Two large reinforced concrete bunkers were constructed on Mururoa and one on Fangataufa. Called Postes d'Enregistrement Avancé (PEA, Advanced Recording Stations), these bunkers contained instrumentation that would record various data and effects resulting from the nuclear explosions, including thermal, blast, and radiological information. The 50,000 ton buildings were built to survive megaton range explosions at very close distances. This was the first time barges were used for France's nuclear tests. Moored near the advanced recording station bunkers (PEA), the nuclear devices would be detonated on the surface of the lagoon. This method of testing was highly polluting since the fireball of the nuclear explosion would engulf large qualities of water from the lagoon which would be turned into radioactive fallout. This also meant that the test atolls could not be resettled safely for several days. Another testing method using a balloon was first tried by France during the 1966 campaign. The nuclear device would be suspended underneath a large helium filled balloon high over the lagoon. The height of burst was determined by yield; the more powerful the test was predicted to be the higher the nuclear device would be raised. The optimum burst height for a balloon shot involved the shock wave reflecting off the lagoon surface back up into the fireball, thus pushing much of the radioactive products back up into the rapidly rising fireball and reducing localized fallout. Balloon testing also made it possible to resettle the test atolls only hours after the shot, as opposed to several days.
The Direction des Centres d'Experimentation Nucleaires (DIRCEN) was made responsible for the firing of the nuclear shots. The atoll of Hao, 279 miles to the north-west of Mururoa, was chosen as an advanced support base for the operations. The anti-aircraft cruiser De Grasse was converted into a firing stations for the tests. A 160 foot radio antenna was constructed on the ship for remote detonation of the devices. The crew was downsized to 560 men to make room for 160 technicians and engineers. The De Grasse conducted the nuclear testing between 1966 and 1972. In December 1964 meteorological reports of the testing sectors at Mururoa and Fangataufa were provided to SMSR; these included speed and direction of winds. Preparation of the test site became intense as it was decided to fire the first shot of the 1966 series in July, letting for little over six months of preparation time. Along with the preparation of the actual test sites, numerous meteorological monitoring stations were set up on islands and atolls throughout French Polynesia. Danger zones for commercial shipping traffic were designated on 15 May; the boundaries of the danger zones were broadcast continually on various radio frequencies six days before each test.
The primary purpose of the series was to test a smaller, powerful warhead, which would be deployed on intermediate-range missiles. Silos for these missiles were already being constructed in France's Haute-Provence.[5] The 1966 campaign tested several warheads, including the MR-50 CTC (Charge Tactique Commune - common tactical warhead) which armed the Pluton tactical missile; the MR-31 warhead which armed the S2 IRBM; and the AN-11 bomb. The series also featured the first tests conducted by France which explored thermonuclear weapons development. The Rigel shot (24 September) was a test of a device which used tritium and/or deuterium gas to boost the yield of the fission reactions. The Sirius shot (4 October), the last shot of the campaign, also was a test of a boosted fission device and was the largest French nuclear test conducted up until that time. On 19 July 1966, a Mirage IVA successfully airdropped a nuclear weapon. The test, code named Tamouré, was the first air drop of a live nuclear device conducted by France. On 6 September 1966, de Gaulle visited French Polynesia in his first and only visit to the region. Following a speech in Papeete, de Gaulle observed the Bételgeuse shot (11 September).
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