Army should be confident of India’s nuclear arsenal: Kakodkar
December 13th, 2009 - 3:38 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS) Seeking to put questions raised about India’s nuclear deterrence at rest, former Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar has said the army should be “fully confident” as there is no doubt about the nuclear arsenal at their command.
“I think that is guaranteed. The army should be fully confident. There is no doubt about the arsenal at their command,” he told Karan Thapar in an interview on the “Devil’s Advocate” programme Sunday on CNN-IBN.
He was responding to a question on former army chief V.P. Malik’s remarks that nuclear scientists should assure the armed forces about the efficacy of the thermonuclear device.
Rubbishing claims by scientists K. Santhanam and P.K. Iyenger that the 1998 thermo-nuclear tests by India were duds, Kakodkar has rejected their demands for a review. He asserted that the country has several hydrogen bombs with a yield “much more” than 45 kilotons.
Kakodkar said that Iyengar did not know very much about 1998 tests and was, therefore, “in no position to talk”. Santhanam only knew about the thermo-nuclear test on a need-to-know basis and, therefore, he too did not know everything, he added.
Kakodkar, who retired as AEC chief Nov 30, contended that India has several thermo-nuclear bombs and their yield is well above 50 kilotons each.
Dismissing the claim made by Santhanam, a defence scientist, and Iyengar, a former chairman of the AEC, that the yield of the thermo-nuclear test was only 20-25 kilotons and not 45 kilotons, Kakodkar said the AEC has six separate ways of measuring the yield and they all came to the same conclusion - i.e. 45 kilotons.
Kakodkar said the DRDO seismic instruments, which Santhanam is relying on to measure the yield, were flawed.
Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has also defended India’s nuclear deterrence capability, saying the only thermonuclear device tested in 1998 produced the “design yield” sufficient for producing thermonuclear bombs.
The controversy erupted in August when Santhanam, who coordinated the Pokhran II tests and a former official with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), told a seminar in New Delhi that the only thermonuclear device tested was a “fizzle”. A test is described as a fizzle when it fails to meet the desired yield.
- 1998 tests perfect, no doubt about India's n-arsenal: Kakodkar (Lead) - Dec 13, 2009
- India must not sign CTBT as Pokhran II was not fully successful, says DRDO scientist - Aug 27, 2009
- Defence Ministry rejects scientist's stand Pokhran II success, says nuke strength sufficient - Aug 27, 2009
- India possesses nuclear deterrence, Pokhran II tests were successful: Navy Chief - Aug 27, 2009
- Now, Navy chief disagrees with DRDO scientist's Pokhran failure remark - Aug 27, 2009
- India's n-tests were success, no repeat needed: top scientists (Lead) - Sep 24, 2009
- Former NSA Brajesh Mishra says Pokhran II was successful - Aug 27, 2009
- India has thermonuclear capabilities: NSA - Sep 20, 2009
- M.K.Naryanan dismisses Santhanam's Pokhran-II 'failure' remark - Sep 20, 2009
- Pokhran II was a success: Kakodkar (updated) - Sep 24, 2009
- Kalam defends India's nuclear deterrence capability (Second Lead) - Aug 27, 2009
- India's n-tests raises questions, 'puzzles' government (Lead) - Aug 27, 2009
- No need for Pokhran II controversy: PM - Aug 29, 2009
- Santhanam sticks to guns - 1998 thermonuclear test was a dud (Lead, with Images) - Sep 21, 2009
- Reassure army of nuke capabilities: former military chief - Sep 06, 2009
Tags: abdul kalam, anil kakodkar, army chief, atomic energy commission, cnn, cnn ibn, defence scientist, devil s advocate, hydrogen bombs, need to know basis, nuclear arsenal, nuclear bombs, nuclear deterrence, nuclear scientists, nuclear test, nuclear tests, santhanam, seismic instruments, thapar, thermonuclear device