GuyGadeboisLeRetour wrote:[wikiAt the end of the Second World War, France launched a vast nuclear program with the creation of the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), but, due to lack of resources, it would take time to catch up. During the 1950s, everything accelerated because the country launched a military nuclear program which led it to develop a deterrent force during the following decade. At the same time, construction of the first French nuclear power plants began, intended to produce plutonium and electricity.
And:Thus, designed and built at the time when France acquired
nuclear weapons and nuclear submarines, reactors
French for energy are marked by civil-military duality.
The first generation reactors were first of all
optimized for the production of military plutonium; those from
second generation had as their primary objective propulsion
naval. This duality is still present in the current park
composed of REPs close to navy boilers
https://www.refletsdelaphysique.fr/arti ... 860p34.pdf
Yes, so chronologically the nuclear weapon was developed from plutonium produced in French-designed UNGG power plants, and not in PWR power plants, the first examples of which were put into service at the end of the 70s in France.