La dissuasion nucléaire - C'est pas sorcier [Intégrale]

Yes, no problem, we'll do that. Jamy, who is 007? This good old James, what does he want? Well, he has work for us. What are we going to do? Investigate the French nuclear forces. That's interesting, how do we do that? 008, go to Long Island, where the submarines are based. 009, investigate the bomb production. Let's go! Go Marcel! To your bomb! Long Island We are on Long Island, right in front of Brest. This is where the strategic oceanic force is based. This force is made up of four nuclear submarine SNLEs, engine launchers. And the engines in question are nuclear bombs. Look! Here is one that is doing manoeuvres before going on a mission again. In fact, there is always a French SNLE patrolling the bottom of the oceans and a second one ready to take the sea at any time. And as they are always able to intervene, they dissuade a possible aggressor from taking it to France. This is the principle of nuclear dissuasion. Nuclear! We will go to the base, there we will know a little more about the issue and we will also get to know each other. You could have come on foot. Long Island is here, in front of Brest. It is in fact a presqu'île which houses 90% of the French nuclear weapons. These weapons are placed on missiles which have a range of about 5000 km, but they can still reach targets located anywhere on the planet since the missiles are embarked on submarines. To complete the French nuclear arsenal, it is necessary to add medium-range missiles. They are launched by planes which take off either from French military bases or from French aircraft carriers. Once launched, the missiles have a range of about 400 km. You know, Jamy, we do not enter this base in any way. It is probably one of the best-kept places in French territory. Here, we will only be told what is not classified as secret defense and we will only be able to see what we want to be shown. Let's go. Ok, good luck 009. Sorry, 008. There are two basins like this one on the island. They host submarines who must undergo maintenance work between two missions. I do not know if you have seen the size of this building. It is huge. It measures 128 meters long and can dive to 300 meters deep, at least. Now we will go to the second basin and there we will be able to see the armed weapons. Here, we just loaded a missile on board the Triomphant. Look, we made it slide vertically into a tube. Each of these submarines can load 16 missiles and each of these missiles carries 6 nuclear bombs. These are strategic weapons. This means that they are not intended to be used on the battlefield. Only the President of the Republic can decide on their use. He has exclusive control because each of these bombs can destroy an entire city. These weapons have phenomenal power. Here, let's take one of the 6 bombs that the missile carries. In jargon, it is said that this bomb has a power of 100 kilotons. In other words, the equivalent, hold on, of 100,000 bombs of a ton of conventional explosives. So if a bomb like this exploded above a city like Paris, it would be terrible. In a radius of 2 kilometers, almost all buildings would be destroyed by the shock wave. There would be no survivors. A little further, in a radius of 4 or 5 kilometers, many buildings would still be destroyed by the shock wave, by the fires caused by the heat. We think that here, 50% of the population would die immediately. But among the survivors, there would be a lot of burnt and irradiated. In total, there would be victims and damage 8 kilometers around the point of explosion, not counting the radioactive particles that would fall back and contaminate the ground. So we have a hard time imagining what that could give. Let's say that if a bomb like this exploded, it would cause 3 times more damage than Hiroshima. On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima is almost entirely destroyed by an American atomic bomb. 140,000 people were killed. On August 9, a second bomb exploded on Nagasaki, killing 70,000 people. And these bombs continue to kill, because their radiation has caused thousands of cancers in the population. The United States used nuclear fire to capitulate Japan by avoiding a landing, and to settle in Asia before the Soviets. But the bomb race has begun. In 1949, the USSR has the atomic weapon. France, on the other hand, joins the club of nuclear powers in 1960. Hey Jamy, do you know where I am? No, I don't see you. I'm in Val-d'Uque, near Dijon. This is where the French nuclear bombs are made. Follow me, I left something behind. And a dosimeter. This center belongs to the Atomic Energy Commission, which manufactures all the French nuclear weapons. In fact, what we manufacture in Val-d'Uque, are the spare parts of nuclear bombs. These parts are then delivered to the army, which assembles them. In other words, there is never a bomb ready for use, coming out of here, to travel across France. It would still be a bit risky. In this building, a very sensitive part of the bomb is made, the one that contains plutonium. Thank you very much. Look Jamy, for the moment, plutonium is in this container. But to be able to work it, to manufacture it, it will have to be put in this large glove box. Attention, the transfer from the container to the glove box, is a risky operation. You have to take a lot of precautions, because I remind you that plutonium is a radioactive matter, very dangerous. So gentlemen, I let you operate. The main danger are the plutonium dusts. If they settle in the body, they can cause a deadly cancer. On the other hand, plutonium can be manipulated with simple gloves, because the radiation it emits, alpha particles, are big enough to be stopped by a sheet of paper. Look, this is the plutonium found in atomic bombs. It is an extremely heavy metal, extremely dense. It is hot too, it is about 35 degrees, because of the alpha particles it emits. Obviously, it is radioactive, this is what we call a fissile matter. Moreover, the bomb A, is also called the fission bomb. Fission is a nuclear reaction, in other words, a reaction that occurs inside the matter, inside the plutonium atoms. And it is this nuclear reaction that produces the energy of the bomb. How? Well, in the core of the atoms, there is a nucleus made up of small particles, protons and neutrons, welded to each other. So in nature, around us, most of the atoms are stable, they do not break, which is not the case. Plutonium or uranium atoms, for example, when they receive a particle, a neutron, they have a hard time digesting it. So they explode by releasing neutrons, but also energy. So where does this energy come from? Well, when we gather the pieces of core after fission, and we put them in the scale, we see that they weigh less than the whole core. A part of the mass, a part of the matter has disappeared, it has transformed into energy. And believe me, it is enough for a little mass of matter to disappear to produce a large amount of energy. Okay, Jamy, but explain to me how, by breaking atoms, we manage to release so much energy at once? By triggering what is called a chain reaction. When a plutonium nucleus breaks, it releases energy and two or three neutrons. If these neutrons are captured by other plutonium nuclei, these nuclei will, in turn, break, release energy and other neutrons, etc. It works, but only as long as there are plutonium nuclei close to the neutrons released. Therefore, for this chain reaction to work, we will concentrate a large amount of plutonium in a small volume, so that each neutron meets a plutonium nucleus. We reach the critical mass. We must be extremely careful when manipulating plutonium, because it spontaneously fissions. In fact, there are neutrons that move around all the time. For example, if we bring two plutonium ingots closer, we risk reaching the critical mass and accidentally triggering a chain reaction. Tell me, Jamy, I have a question. In the A-bomb, how do we trigger this chain reaction? Well, in the atomic bomb, the plutonium presents itself at the beginning in the form of a sufficiently large block so that there is no chain reaction. But this block is surrounded by the classic explosive. Instantly, this envelope explodes. Under the shock, the plutonium is compressed. It reaches the critical mass. And there, in a fraction of a second, the chain reaction takes place and the bomb releases its energy. To develop the French nuclear weapons, it was necessary to find a place to test them. Difficult to do this in the Larzac because of the radioactive fallout. The army therefore chose a French colony, the Algerian Sahara. Between 1960 and 1966, it made four shots in the atmosphere and a dozen in underground galleries. After the independence of Algeria, France set up its test center in the Pacific on the atolls of Mururoa and Fangatofa. Hanging on barges or under balloons, 41 nuclear bombs exploded in the sky of Polynesia. Hey boys, we are in the missile junctioning workshop. This is where the missiles are assembled just before they are loaded on a submarine. An operation that always takes place under the surveillance of the gendarmerie since it is it in France that controls the nuclear weapons. Here we have a missile ready to be embarked. It rests in a transport box. What is a missile? It is a rocket. It crosses the atmosphere layer, flies in space, except that it is a rocket that carries bombs. They are right here, under the headgear. There are six of them and each of them can reach a different target. In military language, they are called nuclear heads. If you want, I can show you what it looks like. A nuclear head. Look, that's it. The shape of the nuclear heads is top secret, but this is a model that is no longer in service. The bomb is locked in this carbon envelope which must resist very high temperatures since it penetrates the atmosphere at more than 20,000 km per hour. Well, I assure you, this is not a real one, it is a model. By the way, here in Val-Duc, we do not make two JEEVs and then last precision inside. This is not a bomb A, but a thermonuclear bomb H. I never think you should explain the difference to us. With the bomb A, we used fission, we broke atoms. With the bomb H, two extremely light atomic nuclei of the hydrogen family are fused and after fusion, these two nuclei form only one, a helium nucleus. By the way, this reaction provides a large amount of energy. How? Well, let's take our balance again. After fusion, the helium nucleus weighs less than the two initial nuclei. There is a loss of mass, and mass, you know now, is energy. The problem, Jamy, is that to obtain this fusion, you have to reach enormous temperatures, several million degrees, and it is totally impossible with classic explosives. So, to trigger the fusion reaction, we will use a fission bomb. Clearly, to trigger a bomb H, we will use a bomb A. And it is this starter, this lighter, if we can say, that we manufacture in this laboratory. Why does fusion require so much heat, so much energy? Well, let's go back to the atoms that fuse. Like all atoms, their nuclei have a positive electric charge. Clearly, this means that these nuclei tend to repel each other, as the identical poles repel each other with magnets. To overcome this repulsion and for the nuclei to fuse, well, we need a huge amount of energy, a huge amount of heat. This is why the bomb H is made up of two parts. First, a source of heat, it is the bomb A. It explodes instantly and provides the energy needed to start the fusion in the second part of the bomb, in other words, the thermonuclear explosion. The thermonuclear bomb is even more powerful than the fission bomb. Its devastating effects have been tested on mannequins. But what were the consequences of the radioactive clouds for the staff of Mururoa and the inhabitants of the neighboring islands? We will only know the truth when the military archives are opened to independent experts. France did not stop its shots in the atmosphere until 1974. They were then carried out in wells 500 to 1,000 meters deep. These wells are closed by cement to trap the residues of the bomb, which will remain radioactive for thousands of years. There are still some leaks, but an international study commanded by the French state affirms that there is no danger for the health of the Polynesians, because the radioactivity is largely diluted in water. The installations of Mururoa were dismantled after the end of nuclear tests in 1996. But the two contaminated atolls will remain a military zone for at least several decades. You come with me, we will go for a little tour inside the submarine. A building like this can hold about 125 people and it is equipped to allow them to live almost normally during the entire duration of the mission. On board there is a kitchen of course, but there is also a bakery, a dressing room, a laundry room, an operating block. It must be said that a patrol lasts about 70 days, that is to say a little more than 2 months. And as the submarine must remain hidden, it never goes back to the surface. It must therefore be perfectly autonomous. So here we are at the PCNO, the Central Navigation Operation Post. This is where the submarine is directed. Follow me, we will meet the commander. Hello Commander. Hello. Do you want to explain how a mission takes place? How does it work? You hide at the bottom of the water and don't move for 70 days, right? No, we don't stay hidden at the bottom of the water. It starts with a patrol area assigned to me by the commander of the Strategic Oceanic Force, which itself applies the instructions given by the Army Chief of Staff. So it's a patrol area where I can move to complete my mission. And my mission is to be constantly ready to execute the order of fire given by the President of the Republic, and this in all invulnerability. So I don't have the right to be detected. And you know, Jamy, there are a few less now, but at one time, during the Cold War, there were constantly two or even three submarines patrolling. Yes, but it's normal. At the time, France had a designated enemy, the Soviet Union. To understand, you have to go back 50 years. At the time, the world was divided into two camps. On one side, in the East, the forces of the Warsaw Pact, in red on the map, largely dominated by the Soviet Union. There were big nuclear missiles shot at American cities, others shot at European cities. And then these forces also had a very important classic army. We talked about 40,000 tanks. On the other side, the forces of NATO, in blue on the map, largely dominated by the United States. Here too, there were big nuclear missiles shot at Soviet Union cities. And then NATO also had classic armed forces based in Europe. That's what we called the Cold War. Only, in the event of an attack from the East with classic weapons on European territory, NATO did not know if it would be able to stop the invasion. And then France did not know if the United States would trigger the nuclear war to defend a European territory. So, France equipped itself with nuclear weapons and launched it on the Soviet Union. In order to say, if you attack me, if you touch my vital interests, well, the response will be worse than the attack. That's the dissuasion. During the Cold War, the missiles of the Albion Plateau were constantly targeted on cities in the Eastern Bloc. France had about 500 nuclear weapons. The Soviets, they owned at least 40,000 and the Americans almost as much. Enough to raze several times all life on Earth. They had huge strategic missiles, but also a whole range of tactical weapons. Cannons, atomic mines that could be used on the battlefield. We were preparing for a nuclear war in Europe. At the end of the 80s, the two enemies will finally meet to reduce their gigantic arsenal. They withdraw their missiles based in Europe. And after the fall of the Berlin Wall, they signed the START agreements. Each camp should no longer have in service more than 3,500 strategic nuclear weapons by 2008. But we are still far from disarmament. The START agreements are only about the destruction, the elimination of missiles. On the other hand, they have absolutely no plans for what is nuclear weapons themselves, the OGMs. And there, each state decides in complete freedom what it will do with them. Americans and Russians will therefore store thousands of nuclear OGMs that can be reused one day. They also have in their reserves several hundred tons of plutonium. And it will take a lot of time and a lot of money to get rid of this heritage of the Cold War. In 1989, the Berlin Wall, the symbol of the separation between East and West, fell. And two years later, in 1991, the USSR collapsed. The Cold War was therefore over and France was no longer threatened by a particular state. So it is now what is called dissuasive dissuasion. This means that these missiles that are installed in all their tubes, these missiles can be used to dissuade any potential aggressor. Only, in case of fire, they must be programmed. And that, the commander will explain how it happens. Commander, so it is you here who holds the codes that will give the objectives to the missiles? I hold a part of the information in this chest here, which is there, which I will not open. There is a certain amount of information, but everything is not there. There is also information in the second command, and then there is also information in other chests. So the missiles are completely inert currently. There is no objective, there is no coordinate of the objective in the missiles. And on the other hand, indeed, we have to be two, the second command and myself, to do operations simultaneously. There are two different places. In fact, each nuclear head is locked by a code that only the President of the Republic possesses. If he had to trigger the nuclear fire, well, the President should first go to a command post located under the Elysée, or contact him by means of a suitcase that he always carries with him during his travels. From there, he could, with this major tent choose the targets that can be reached by the missiles. And then, he would transmit by radio to the submarine the corresponding codes to his targets and the unlocking codes of the nuclear heads. Ok, Jamy, but the problem is that a patrol SNLE must remain submerged in order not to be spotted. And underwater, the radio waves pass very badly. So tell me, how do the orders reach him? Well, the soldiers use very large waves that nevertheless spread in the water. Moreover, to capture them, the submarine carries behind him a large antenna that goes up a few meters from the surface. When the submarine has received the orders, he too goes up a few meters from the surface and drops the missiles. The missile is ejected out of its tube by gases under pressure and its engines are turned on just before it leaves the water. This is a test shot without nuclear heads, of course. The strategic air forces have 60 Mirage 2000 and more planes to supply them in flight. And there are always several crews ready to be mobilized to ensure the dissuasion. Oh la la! The construction site! But there's nothing left! Oh la la, Jamy! What happened in the truck? There's nothing left! Did you get robbed? Yes! The models and the plans of the models In what state did they put the truck? Who could have done it? Do you have an idea, Jamy? Well, many countries would like to own nuclear weapons. Today, the United States, Russia, China, France, and England are officially the 5 countries that own nuclear weapons according to a treaty signed by more than 180 countries. Only within this treaty other countries have developed nuclear weapons. This is the case of India to counter China. So, Pakistan has developed this nuclear weapon to counter India. And, without ever admitting it, Israel also owns nuclear weapons. Yes, but Jamy, among us, you know very well that there are others who try to have the atomic bomb. Isn't it them who tried to steal the models? Indeed, North Korea, for example, has officially abandoned its military But we wonder, especially since this country has long-range missiles. We also wonder about Iran which is able to produce fissile materials. As for Iraq, this country had a vast military Officially, it has been dismantled since the Gulf War, but doubts persist. Nuclear engineers from the former Soviet Union may have gone to rent their services to countries who want to make the atomic bomb. And then, we also doubt the trafficking of weapons or nuclear materials. We can imagine that fortunately for now, there are no examples but one day weapons found especially in Russia may be stolen and found in a country in the Middle East, for example. We can't exclude this hypothesis. Countries like Iran or North Korea try to increase the range of their missiles but they are still far from being a threat to Europe or the United States. Nevertheless, Americans will spend billions of dollars to try to protect their territory with an anti-missile shield. This umbrella is far from being ready and many experts doubt its effectiveness especially in the face of a massive attack of several missiles. In the meantime, this project may restart the arms race. Since the end of the Cold War, France has reduced the number of its nuclear weapons and the bombs that have been withdrawn from service are dismantled here in Val-d'Uque. Plutonium and uranium are recovered then recycled to make new weapons because the weapons get old and after 10 to 20 years they have to be changed. And if we recycle plutonium it's also because France has committed to no longer produce military fissile materials so the trend is to disarm. OK Fred but be careful disarming doesn't mean getting rid of all the nuclear weapons. On the one hand, France is reducing its arsenal it's true but on the other hand it continues to modernize what's left. Here for example the Navy will receive two new SNLEs one in 2004 and the other normally in 2008. They will replace the two oldest including this one the indomitable and we will also replace the missiles. The new ones will have a range of 6,000 to 7,000 km against 5,000 currently. And if we permanently modernize our arsenal it's because nuclear dissuasion remains the foundation of French strategy. The French army has around 350 nuclear weapons The missiles from the Albion Plateau have all been dismantled and France has signed a treaty prohibiting any nuclear test. But just before closing Mururoa it carried out 6 tests to test some of the new nuclear warheads which will equip the missiles by 2015. And the development of these weapons will continue with a simulation program with super calculators and a huge laser system which must reproduce in the laboratory a fusion reaction like in the H-bomb but by releasing a much weaker energy. The aging weapons as we are not able to make them again to be sure that they are really identical we renew them and in the renewal we check by the simulation that the modifications that have been made are correct and meet the specifications. So this whole simulation system aims to guarantee that the weapons remain credible that is to say that they remain reliable and safe. This simulation program should cost about 20 billion francs. So France will continue to modernize its nuclear arsenal even if today it is not threatened by any enemy. Yeah but we did what we could. Who is it? It's 007 again. Yes, it's James Bond. What does he want? He says I suck. So you're 000. And you're 009 and you're 008. Who does he think he is? He always wins but it's cinema. Tell him. No, tell him. No, no, no. I don't prefer. Don't move James. I'll give you Marcel. Marcel! James!