France conducts A-test in Pacific atoll series

France has conducted an underground nuclear test on the South Pacific atoll of Mururoa, the Defense Ministry announced. Tests carried out under the previous administration of President Valery Giscard d'Estaing were not officially announced. The news was usually reported by New Zealand's Seismological Observatory in Wellington.

The test program was halted, pending a review of France's nuclear policy, when President Francois Mitterrand took office in May. The government announced in early June that the tests would resume, and the latest was the last in a series planned several months ago.