A real shocker - Pokhran-II in May,1998 may not be what we have been told. The thermonuclear (TN) explosion was supposed to yield around 45KT, but it probably ended up generating a measly 20-25KT. However, the fission device which was supposed to set-off the TN, yielded the desired result and the perfunctory crater; so did the third device - a sub-kiloton device. While the fission device is still capable of causing irreparable damage, the TN device was supposed to be 3 times as potent as the Hiroshima bomb. The implications of this episode, as it unravels, are quite disturbing and leave many unanswered questions :
1) The credibility of former president Mr. APJ is in serious jeopardy. Apparently he was aware of the official post mortem of the TN explosion. So why did he keep mum then, and why does he continue to support R Chidambaram ( the then AEC Chairman ) and the incumbent MK Narayanan ?
2) If the tests didnt do anything to the "White House" ( relax...its the shaft in which the TN device was placed. Wonder why BJP didnt raise a red flag to the American reference in the desi tests ), why didnt we go for further tests without much delay ?
3) If it is really true that the tests fizzled out, then we do not have the minimum nuclear deterrence against a diabolical Pak state and the muslce-flexing Chinese republic. This would also be fodder to the terrorist organizations to mount another offensive, and if we do not have the nuclear werewithal, we cant take the swift and decisive riposte which our home minister has been crying hoarse about.
4) We cant be rushed into signing the CTBT, which is what Mr.Santhanam ( the then project leader of Pokhran-II ) claims as the reason for his disclosure after these many years.
5) Did the BJP government put pressure on the Pokhran project committee to carry out the tests prematurely, to gain political brownie points ?
The more we read in the media about the cover-up, one is inclined to think that we have been fed a false sense of security and pride. If the tests were really botched, then we are in a classic catch-22 - 1) Given the US India nuclear deal, it wont be easy to carry out any more tests 2) On the other hand, we cant sit idle without proving our minimum deterrence both for the Indian public and to the doubting world.
Super mess this. Who and how are they going to clean this up ?
