France has carried out the first of a planned series of nuclear tests in the south Pacific despite strong international opposition. The French Defence Ministry said the device exploded at an underground site beneath Mururoa Atoll yielded less than 20 kilotons. Australian scientists described it as fairly small compared with previous tests. There's been swift reaction from several countries. New Zealand and Chile have recalled their ambassadors to Paris in protest. Australia condemned the test and the US expressed its regret. Before the nuclear device was exploded, the French President Jacques Chirac said his country might carry out fewer than the eight tests originally planned.