Mushroom Cloud from the Canopus explosion rises above Fangataufa

'Canopus' was the code name for France's first two-stage thermonuclear test, conducted on August 24, 1968 at Fangataufa atoll. The atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945 A mushroom cloud is a distinctive mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke, flame, or debris resulting from a very large explosion. ... Fangataufa (Fangatafoa) (22°15S., 138°45W.) is a small, low, narrow, barrier reef. ... The basics of the Teller-Ulam configuration: a fission bomb suspended above fusion fuel. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18 km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ... August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Fangataufa (Fangatafoa) (22°15S., 138°45W.) is a small, low, narrow, barrier reef. ... An atoll is a type of low, coral island found in tropical oceans and consisting of a coral-algal reef surrounding a central depression. ...

In 1966, France was able to use fusion fuel to boost plutonium implosion devices with the Rigel shot. Roger Dautry, 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. 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Fusion typically refers to the merging of two or more entities into a single one: In physics and technology nuclear fusion is the combination of two atomic nuclei into a single nucleus, usually the isotopes of hydrogen, Deuterium and Tritium. ... General Name, Symbol, Number plutonium, Pu, 94 Chemical series actinides Group, Period, Block n/a, 7, f Appearance silvery white Atomic mass (244) g/mol Electron configuration [Rn] 5f6 7s2 Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 24, 8, 2 Physical properties Phase solid Density (near r. ... A physicist is a scientist trained in physics. ... The Commissariat à lÉnergie Atomique or CEA, the Atomic Energy Commisson, in English, is a French public establishment of an industrial and commercial character whose mission is to develop all applications of atomic energy, both civilian and military. ... Heavy water is dideuterium oxide, or D2O or 2H2O. It is chemically the same as normal water, H2O, but the hydrogen atoms are of the heavy isotope deuterium, in which the nucleus contains a neutron in addition to the proton found in the nucleus of any hydrogen atom. ... Nuclear power station at Leibstadt, Switzerland. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Tritium (symbol T or 3H) is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. ...

The announcment by France in the late 1960s to test a hydrogen bomb provoked the People's Republic of China to conduct a full scale hydrogen bomb test of its own on June 17, 1967. 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-6 deuteride secondary stage with a highly enriched uranium jacket primary. June 17 is the 168th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (169th in leap years), with 197 days remaining. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Preparation for an underground nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site in the 1980s. ... General Name, Symbol, Number lithium, Li, 3 Chemical series alkali metals Group, Period, Block 1, 2, s Appearance silvery white/gray Atomic mass 6. ... // Enriched uranium is uranium whose uranium-235 content has been increased through the process of isotope separation. ...

Fangataufa was selected as the location of the shot due to its relative isolation in respect to the main base on Mururoa. The device was suspended from a large helium filled balloon. It was detonated at 18:30:00.5 GMT with a 2.6 megaton yield at an altitude of 1800 feet. As a result of the successful detonation, France became the 5th thermonuclear nation. Moruroa (Mururura, Mururoa) (21°50S., 138°55W.) is an atoll in which forms part of the Tuamoto archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. ... General Name, Symbol, Number helium, He, 2 Chemical series noble gases Group, Period, Block 18, 1, s Appearance colorless Atomic mass 4. ... Balloons, like greeting cards or flowers, are given for special occasions. ... For alternate meanings of GMT, see GMT (disambiguation). ... A megaton or megatonne is a unit of mass equal to 1,000,000 metric tons, i. ... There are currently five states considered to be nuclear weapons states, an internationally recognized status conferred by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). ...

External links

• Atomic Forum