31.   Gaston Flosse did not give a date for the second test in the planned series of six to eight underground blasts in the South Pacific.

32.   France plans to carry out eight underground blasts in the Southern Pacific starting next month.

33.   French authorities have not said when they would stage the first underground blasts, plans that have sparked worldwide protests.

34.   French military officials say eight underground blasts are necessary to verify computer simulation programs that will eliminate the need for future tests.

35.   He did not say whether France, which has staged five underground blasts in French Polynesia since September, will set off one or two more.

36.   Hundreds of craters from underground blasts pock the landscape like giant thumbprints in a pie.

37.   If questions arose about the reliability or safety of nuclear warheads and underground blasts were required to resolve those questions, the administration would contemplate testing, he said.

38.   Ignoring international protests, France on Wednesday defended its decision to break a three-year moratorium on nuclear testing with an underground blast in the South Pacific.

39.   New Zealand, a longtime vocal critic of French nuclear testing, Friday welcomed confirmation by France that it will end underground blasts in the South Pacific in February.

40.   The announcement has provoked worldwide criticism, particularly in the South Pacific region where there is widespread fear that the underground blasts may harm the environment.