Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: A DRDO scientist involved in 1998
atomic tests ignited a controversy when he suggested Pokhran-
II was not a full success but was contradicted by his then
boss and former President A P J Abdul Kalam who said today the
explosions had yielded the desired results.
Kalam, who mentored India's nuclear programme, said the only thermonuclear device tested in 1998 produced the "design yield".
K. Santhanam, who coordinated the Pokhran II tests, was on Thursday quoted as saying that the only thermonuclear device tested was a "fizzle". A test is described as a fizzle when it fails to meet the desired yield.
The claim by Santhanam, the Defence Research and
Development Organisation(DRDO) representative for the tests
conducted when Atal Behari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister,
also had few takers in the Government and the nuclear
establishment who dismissed it as absurd and puzzling.
After he dropped the bombshell, Santhanam said there was
no question about backing away from his assertion that the
1998 atomic tests did not achieve the desired results.
But Kalam, who was the Director General of the Defence
Research and Development Organisation(DRDO) during Pokhran-II,
told PTI that from the data obtained by seismic and
radioactive measurements it had been established by the
project team that the "design yield of the thermo-nuclear test
has been obtained."
"After the test, there was a detailed review, based on
the two experimental results: (i) seismic measurement close to
the site and around and (ii) radioactive measurement of the
material after post shot drill in the test site," Kalam told
news agencies here.
"From these data, it has been established by the project
team that the design yield of the thermo-nuclear test has been
obtained," said Kalam, who as Director General of the Defence
Research and Development Organisation, spearheaded the nuclear
tests in 1998.
Kalam had last year come out in support of the landmark India-US nuclear deal, saying New Delhi did not need to test again as its deterrence capability was strong enough.
According to Santhanam, "We can't get into a stampede to sign CTBT. We should conduct more nuclear tests which are necessary from the point of view of security". Santhanam made these remarks to IANS Thursday.
This runs contrary to assertions by other scientists and top officials involved with India's nuclear programme.
Home Minister P Chidambaram said he was puzzled by the
Santhanam's statement. "If you are not puzzled, you are a
genius," he told reporters when asked to comment on the claim.
R Chidambaram, who was the Chairman of the Department
of Atomic Energy in 1998, was quick to dub the suggestion as
"absurd". "There is no controversy over the yield of
Pokhran-II nuclear tests. The claims are absurd," Chidambaram,
the current Principal Scientific Adviser to the Union
Government, told PTI.
Santhanam's version was also contested by Brajesh
Mishra, National Security Advisor in the Vajpayee government.
Official sources dismissed Santhanam's remarks and underlined that India's opposition to CTBT remains unchanged.
"We will not be signatory to any agreement which is discriminatory in nature," a source said.
Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta said India's nuclear
deterrence capabilities were "proven and capable enough".
India conducted five nuclear tests on May 11 and 13, 1998
at the Pokhran range in Rajasthan which included a 45 kiloton
(kt) thermonuclear device, called as hydrogen bomb in common
parlance.
The other tests on May 11 included a 15 kt fission device
and a 0.2 kt sub-kiloton device. The two simultaneous nuclear
tests on May 13 were also in the sub-kiloton range -- 0.5 and
0.3 kt.
Kalam, also Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister,
R Chidambaram who was chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission
and Anil Kakodkar, then Director of Bhabha Atomic Research
Centre, were key players in the Pokhran-II nuclear tests.