Canopus Nuclear Test

• Canopus (also Opération Canopus in French)

was the code name for France's first two-stage
thermonuclear test, conducted on August 24,
1968, at Fangataufa atoll
• in 1966, France was able to use fusion fuel to
boost plutonium implosion devices with the
Rigel shot. Roger Dautray, 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 550 metres
(1,800 ft). Nominal yield was 2.6 megatonnes
of TNT (11 PJ) .ctbto 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.