New Delhi, December 13: Former Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Dr Anil Kakodkar has demolished and described as ”baseless” the claims made by scientists Dr K Santhanam and Dr P K Iyenger that the 1998 thermo-nuclear tests by India were duds and rejected their demands for a review. Dr Kakodkar, who retired as AEC Chief on November 30, told CNN-IBN in an interview that Dr Iyengar did not know very much about 1998 tests and was, therefore, ”in no position to talk.” Also, Dr Santhanam only knew about the thermo-nuclear test on a need-to-know basis and, therefore, he too did not know everything.
Dr Kakodkar said India has several thermo-nuclear bombs and their yield is well above 50 kilotons each.He also sought to allay fears about India’s thermo-nuclear deterrent, saying it was reliable and effective and the Army need not have any concern about the nuclear arsenal.
Strongly dismissing the claim made by Dr Santhanam, a Defence scientist, and Dr Iyengar, a former Chairman of the AEC, that the yield of the thermo-nuclear test was only 20-25 kilotons and not 45 kilotons, Dr Kakodkar said the AEC has six separate ways of measuring the yield and they all come to the same conclusion i.e. 45 kilotons.
He said the DRDO seismic instruments, which Dr Santhanam is relying on to measure the yield, were faulty.After the test of 1998, BARC and DRDO scientists discussed each others findings and came to this conclusion.
Refuting Dr Santhanams argument about the crater, Dr Kakodkar said the depth at which the thermo-nuclear device was planted, ensured there would be no crater and only the ground would lift up, which it did.Secondly, the comparison with the crater of the fission device is wrong because the yield of the fission device was 15 kiloton and not 25 kiloton as Dr Santhanam has exaggeratedly but wrongly claimed. Thirdly, the geology of the soil where the thermo-nuclear device was planted, was different to the geology where the fission device was planted. The thermo-nuclear device was planted in hard granite. This also militated against the crater.
–Agencies