France Conducts Third Nuclear Test

PARIS — Defiant in the face of international condemnation, France said it conducted a third underground nuclear test at its blast site in the South Pacific on Friday afternoon.

The blast, equal to about 60,000 tons of TNT, took place beneath Mururoa atoll in French Polynesia, the Defense Ministry said.

“This test was necessary to guarantee in the future the security and reliability of our arms,” the ministry said in a short statement.

Governments and environmental groups worldwide have condemned France for breaking a 1992 moratorium on nuclear tests with a Sept. 5 blast beneath the atoll, about 750 miles southeast of Tahiti. A second blast beneath neighboring Fangataufa atoll followed Oct. 2.

France says it needs to conduct up to eight underground tests before May to check its nuclear arsenal and develop computer testing that render future detonations unnecessary.