Fangataufa

Template: Infobox Atoll / Maintenance / height Missing

Fangataufa (also Fangatau or Ahunui, old name: Cockburn Iceland ) is a small, uninhabited atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago with a land area of 5 km ². The incidence is about 5 times 8 miles and encompasses a total area of ​​45 km ². The average depth of the lagoon is 40-42 m.

Fangataufa located in the southeastern region of the archipelago, about 45 km south of Mururoa. It is part of French Polynesia and is administratively assigned to the municipality Tureia.

In February 1826 the then uninhabited atoll of Frederick William Beechey was discovered.

Originally Fangataufa a closed ring. The mid-1960s blew up the French armed forces, a 400 m wide passage in the northern part of the ring to create an access for their ships, the yoke Balisée.

Nuclear weapons tests

Since 1966, the atoll has been used 12 times by France as a test of the force de frappe for nuclear weapons, the top five in the air in the vicinity of the atoll, underground since 1975, mostly at a depth of 500-700 m. Appointments have included:

The International Atomic Energy Agency classifies the hazards of radioactivity on a Fangataufa now as safe.

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