French N-tests may be nearly finished—P.M.
PA Wellington The latest French nuclear test on Mururoa might be an indication that the tests were coming to a close, said the Prime Minister, Mr Lange, yesterday. “You cannot conceivably keep on detonating 150-kilo-tonne devices underground
at Mururoa and hope that the geology of that area will sustain it,” he said.
“It is flirting with disaster now,” he said. “To continue testing in that way is just absolutely irresponsible, flies in the face of all Pacific opinion, and reinforces the claim that if they want to do that sort of thing
they should do it in France.” Last week’s explosion had clearly involved something more powerful than a five to 12-kilotonne nuclear trigger device, and could have been a test of a new submarine missile.
Mr Lange said the Government was limited in its means of protest. With testing underground, it would be pointless to send a frigate into the area as the previous Labour Government had done, but the Government would, instead, register the disgust of the Pacific nations through the United Nations.
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Press, 14 May 1985, Page 8
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181French N-tests may be nearly finished—P.M. Press, 14 May 1985, Page 8
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