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A wave of declassification is shedding light on French nuclear weapons development, especially in Polynesia, although some gaps remain.
thebulletin.org
Before becoming one of the world’s
top nonproliferation cops, France served as a global nuclear supplier. During the Cold War arms race, the French government was among those that provided
Israel,
India,
South Africa,
Iran, and
Iraq with nuclear technologies. Except for possibly Iran, all these states endeavored to build nuclear weapons; so far, only
Iraq has failed to do so.
French nuclear history also has important ties to the United States and its Cold War foreign policy. Despite public refusal to help the French program, the Eisenhower administration invited French officials to the Nevada Test Site and provided diagnostic instruments for use in Algeria. The Kennedy-era State Department participated in Franco-Algerian negotiations over
continued French use of the test sites in the Algerian Sahara after Algerian Independence. The Johnson White House
took a firmer stance, refusing further nuclear aid to France. Worried about the reliability of France’s nuclear arsenal, President Richard Nixon and his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger
secretly reversed US policy and launched unprecedented Franco-American cooperation on weapons design and safety procedures.