The CIA Declassified Reports on The French Nuclear Weapons Program (1959)

... the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) published a scientific intelligence report on “ The French Nuclear Weapons Program ” (CIA/SI 47-59) analyzing the state of progress of the French research in this specific field. The secret report describes France’s capabilities in plutonium production, extraction, isotope separation and the development of nuclear weapons as well as puts forward a possible first nuclear test in the Sahara Desert at Reggane (French Algeria). According to the CIA, France ...