French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced on March 18 that production of tritium, which is essential for the manufacture of thermonuclear weapons, will be resumed in France. Two civilian reactors owned by the EDF conglomerate will be used to produce the tritium.
A press release by the French Ministry of Defence reported that the production of tritium will not affect the electricity generation by the Civaux nuclear power plant located in southwestern France. The production of tritium will take place on the premises of the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique (CEA). This is a French scientific and industrial facility specializing in nuclear research.
This project is the culmination of over twenty-five years of discussions between the French Ministry of Defence and the EDF conglomerate. The agreement is meant to fill the gap in tritium production left by the closure in 2009 of two reactors dedicated to tritium production located in Marcoule in southeastern France.
Tritium is a radioactive hydrogen isotope consisting of one proton and two neutrons. It is very rare in the atmosphere of the Earth. The only practical means of production is to expose lithium to the high level of radiation present in a nuclear reactor core. Following the irradiation, tritium can be recovered from the exposed lithium. It is very difficult to store tritium because hydrogen can leak through most types of seals.
Tritium is highly unstable with a half-life of twelve years. This means that a constant source of production is necessary. Tritium has many applications, from fluorescent surfaces on watches, keyrings, or firearm sights, to its most important role as fuel in nuclear fusion.
Tritium is currently used in nuclear weapons which are based on thermonuclear warheads. These warheads allow for tremendous destructive power in a very small size. In the detonation of a nuclear warhead, energy is not produced in a chain reaction of fission of uranium and/or plutonium nuclei but in a thermonuclear fusion reaction. In such a reaction, where hydrogen isotopes combine under very high temperature and pressure to form helium, a huge amount of energy is released.
An initial nuclear explosion is required to create the conditions necessary to start the reaction that will lead to nuclear fusion, but its power is a small percentage of the total. The largest thermonuclear bomb ever constructed and detonated, Tsar Bomba, had a yield of fifty megatons but was impractical for military use. Normally, much weaker warheads are used, but in larger numbers.
According to estimates, France has two hundred and ninety nuclear warheads, divided into two categories. Strategic nuclear weapons include TN 75 warheads with a yield of around one hundred and fifty kilotons and tactical TN-81 with an adjustable yield of one hundred to three hundred kilotons. The former warheads are carried by Le Triomphant class submarines launching intercontinental ballistic missiles with a range of five thousand to six thousand miles from the M45 or M51 families carrying up to ten MIRV sub-warheads targeting different objectives.
The latter type is installed in ASMP-A cruise missiles with a range of up to three hundred and ten miles carried by multirole Rafale aircraft.