India’s n-tests raises questions, ‘puzzles’ government (Lead)
August 27th, 2009 - 8:07 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, Aug 27 (IANS) A former top official’s admission that the 1998 nuclear tests by India were inadequate from the security standpoint has left Home Minister P. Chidambaram “puzzled”.
“We can’t get into a stampede to sign CTBT (Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty). We should conduct more nuclear tests which are necessary from the point of view of security,” K. Santhanam, who coordinated the tests, called Pokhran II, in the Rajasthan desert, told IANS.
“I have seen the report. I am puzzled. The government will find out, somebody will brief you,” Chidambaram told reporters after a meeting of the cabinet committee on economic affairs.
He was replying to questions about a report in The Times Of India daily Thursday that quoting Santhanam as admitting that the only thermonuclear device tested during Pokhran II was a “fizzle.” A test is described as a fizzle when it fails to meet the desired yield.
Santhanam, while speaking to IANS, said”: “We should not get railroaded into signing the CTBT.” He was commenting on reports about the US pressuring India to sign the CTBT and the fresh efforts by the Obama administration to revive non-proliferation activism.
Santhanam, a former official with the Defence Research and Development Organisation, said that the thermonuclear or hydrogen bomb tests - the first and most powerful of the three tests conducted on May 11, 1998 - did not produce the desired yield.
R. Chidambaram, who was then the chief of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), is on record as saying that the bombs yield was 45 kilotons (45,000 tonnes of conventional explosive).
Santhanam’s remarks are set to create a flutter in the non-proliferation establishment in the US and may raise fresh doubts about the future of the India-US nuclear deal which will unravel if New Delhi were to test again.
Santhanam’s assessment is set to bolster India’s opposition to signing the CTBT - an issue that may figure in the discussions when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh goes to the US in November. India has opposed CTBT on grounds that it is discriminatory and tends to divide the world into the nuclear haves and have-nots.
- No CTBT, India needs more nuclear tests: Pokhran II coordinator - Aug 27, 2009
- Kalam defends India's nuclear deterrence capability (Second Lead) - Aug 27, 2009
- Defence Ministry rejects scientist's stand Pokhran II success, says nuke strength sufficient - Aug 27, 2009
- India must not sign CTBT as Pokhran II was not fully successful, says DRDO scientist - Aug 27, 2009
- Army should be confident of India's nuclear arsenal: Kakodkar - Dec 13, 2009
- Former NSA Brajesh Mishra says Pokhran II was successful - Aug 27, 2009
- Now, Navy chief disagrees with DRDO scientist's Pokhran failure remark - Aug 27, 2009
- 1998 tests perfect, no doubt about India's n-arsenal: Kakodkar (Lead) - Dec 13, 2009
- India possesses nuclear deterrence, Pokhran II tests were successful: Navy Chief - Aug 27, 2009
- No need for Pokhran II controversy: PM - Aug 29, 2009
- Pokhran II was a success: Kakodkar (updated) - Sep 24, 2009
- Controversy over Pokhran-II needless: PM (Lead) - Aug 29, 2009
- Chidambaram 'puzzled' over report about Pokhran II failure - Aug 27, 2009
- India's nuclear deterrence proven: Navy chief - Aug 27, 2009
- Chidambaram puzzled over report about Pokhran II failure - Aug 27, 2009
Tags: atomic energy, cabinet committee, comprehensive test ban treaty, defence research, development organisation, economic affairs, fizzle, home minister, hydrogen bomb tests, nuclear deal, nuclear tests, p chidambaram, r chidambaram, raises questions, rajasthan desert, santhanam, security standpoint, test ban treaty, thermonuclear device, times of india