Mumbai: Some nuclear physicists have said the
onus was on R Chidambaram, who was the top Atomic Energy boss
during Pokhran-II in 1998, to disprove the claim of ex-DRDO
scientist K Santhanam that this thermonuclear test was not a
complete success.
According to P K Iyengar, another former chief of the
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the nuclear physicists within
the establishment took this view in the wake of a challenge
thrown by Chidambaram to Santhanam to prove his claim that the
nuclear test was a 'fizzle'.
The scientists were of the view that since Chidambaram is
well aware of the fact that only a small number of persons
have access to the Pokhran-II data and Santhanam is not one
among them the onus is on him to prove the test gave the
desired yield in the face of what they said some evidence to
the contrary.
Responding to comments by AEC chief Anil Kakodkar that
India has the capability for simulation and therefore there
was no need for further nuke tests, the physicists dismissed
them as "irrelevant" to the debate on further tests.
"The Baneberry tests which are referred to from which
simulation data are supposedly taken, refer only to the
aftermath of the explosion and its geological effects. They
have nothing to do with the actual device itself and is
therefore irrelevant to debate about whether we need further
tests," the physicists said.
Claiming that the yield was below expectation, the
physicists said on the basis of a single test, it is highly
unlikely that any simulation will suffice as every physicist
knows.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, September 06, 2009, 23:47