in the Sahara, citing fears of radioactive fallout and the safety of their citizens. Programme 13 February 1960: Gerboise Bleue ("blue jerboa"): 70 kt 1 April 1960: Gerboise Blanche ("white jerboa"): <5 kt 27 December 1960: Gerboise Rouge ("red jerboa"): <5 kt 25 April 1961: Gerboise Verte ("green jerboa"): <1 ktGerboise Rouge was followed by a joint exercise, in which infantry, helicopters and armour reconnoitered the contaminated area.Gerboise Verte was intended to yield between 6 and 18 kilotonnes, but effectively yielded less than 1. Like Gerboise Rouge, it was followed by a joint exercise in the contaminated area, codenamed Garigliano. The test had been patched up hastily and fired prematurely because of the Algiers putsch, as it was feared that the nuclear bomb could fall in the hands of seditious elements. As a result, the bomb yielded less than 1 kiloton, 10 times less than the intended output. Later effects After the tests, nuclear fallout was detected as far away as Senegal, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Sudan. In 2005, the Algerian government asked for a study to assess the radioactivity of former nuclear testing sites. The International Atomic Energy Agency published the report suggesting that Gerboise Bleue explosion site had the second highest caesium-137 surface levels of the four tests of the series, with a residual surface activity between 0.02 and 2.0 MBq/m2 over a surface area of about 1 km2. The same report showed that the fallout of the bomb were contained in a circular area of less than 1 km in diameter. It also stated that these levels were not enough to warrant intervention and did not pose a threat to visitors of the area or inhabitants of Reggane. In 2009, the French government agreed to compensate victims who had been exposed to nuclear radiation as a result of the testing in Algeria and French Polynesia. The government also agreed to release additional documents which detailed how the tests had been carried out. According to the French NGO ACRO, Saharan dust blown northwards by strong seasonal winds to France in early 2021 carried measurable levels of radioactive caesium-137 attributable to the Gerboise tests. See also Agate (French first underground A-bomb) Canopus (French first atmospheric H-bomb) Force de Frappe'' List of nuclear weapons tests of France List of states with nuclear weapons Nuclear weapons and France History of nuclear weapons Notes References External links Report of Pierre Billaud,