France Holds Powerful A-Test in South Pacific
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand — France on Saturday carried out its most powerful nuclear test of the year, exploding a device in the South Pacific equal in force to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, New Zealand officials said.
The test took place at Muroroa Atoll in French Polynesia. Officials estimated the blast’s yield at 20 kilotons, the equivalent of 20,000 tons of TNT. The U.S. atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, also had an explosive force of 20 kilotons.
The explosion followed two other French tests in May, of 3 kilotons and 2 kilotons, respectively, and one in April of 4 kilotons.
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