nuclear-news

The country’s defense minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, took the publication by Le Telegramme de Brest daily very seriously, calling for an immediate check at the base on the Ile Longue island, AFP reports.

The paper has called the base “a fortress on paper,” revealing huge security flaws at the facility, which hosts France’s four nuclear attack submarines.
According to the publication, access controls to the base were very weak as they didn’t use biometric identification systems, which are common for most modern airports. ……

The submarines at the Ile Longue island constitute the bulk of France’s nuclear deterrent after the country closed its land-based, long-range nuclear system at the Albion Plateau back in 1999.

The four nuclear subs, which are commonly known as ‘Boomers’, are each equipped with 16 inter-continental ballistic missiles.
Le Telegramme warned that there’ll be serious trouble if they fall into the wrong hands as firepower of just one submarine is equal to 960 times the nuclear explosion in Hiroshima in 1945.

Independent defense consultant, Jean-Marie Collin, told Francetv Info that the investigation into the Ile Longue base is an “an admission of weakness” by the French defense ministry, which indicates problems in the country’s national security. …… http://rt.com/news/france-nuclear-submarine-security-645/