Decommissioning nuclear missile base. Technicians checking a nuclear missile silo for radioactive contamination. This photograph was taken during the decommissioning of the base at Plateau d'Albion, France, which was completed in 1998. The base housed the entire French force of S3D intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs). The S3Ds could deliver a one megatonne TN 61 warhead (equivalent in explosive power to a million tonnes of TNT) within a range of 3000 kilometres. The 18 missiles were deactivated in September 1996 as part of the modernisation of the French nuclear force.