The Pokhran test was a bomb, I can tell you now... An
explosion is an explosion, a gun is a gun, whether you shoot
at someone or shoot at the ground... I just want to make
clear that the test was not all that peaceful.
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Test: Smiling Buddha
Time: 8:05 18 May 1974 (IST)
Location: Pokhran, Rajasthan Desert, India
27.095 deg N, 71.752 E
Test Height and Type: Underground, -107 m
Yield: 12 Kt
The crater produced by this detonation of a plutonium
implosion device is 47 meters wide with a crater depth of 10
meters. The shot was fired 1.5 km southwest of the
abandoned village of Malka, but was 24.8 km northwest of
the town of Pokhran (which is usually given as the test site).
For an excellent study on the Rajasthan test site including
both the Smiling Buddha test and recent site preparation
activity see Vipin Gupta'a paper at Sandia.
That India can build nuclear weapons has been an
established fact since 8:05 18 May 1974 (IST), when India
exploded a 12 Kt plutonium bomb 107 meters underground
in the Rajasthan Desert. This test, code named "Smiling
Buddha", was located at 27.095 deg N, 71.752 E, which is
usually identified as being "Pokaharan" (or "Pokhran"), the
name of a town that is 24.8 km southeast from the test site.
A key motivation for India's nuclear program is undoubtedly
its concern about nuclear-armed China, which faces India
along much of its northern border. Disputes about this
border exist: China currently occupies the Aksai Chin
plateau adjacent to Ladakh, Kashmir in Northwest India;
India occupies the North-East Frontier Agency claimed by
China. In October 1962 China invaded India, an attack that
India was powerless to respond to. China eventually
withdrew voluntarily later in the year. India has also fought
repeatedly with Pakistan since 1947, and holds Kashmir -
Muslim territory claimed by Pakistan. Pakistan's own
nuclear program now serves as justification for
perpetuating India's own program, although Pakistan did not
begin acquiring weapon technology until after India's
nuclear test. India also has aspirations to being the
dominant power in southern Asia, and may view nuclear
weapons as a necessary component of acquiring this
status.
The center piece of India's nuclear weapons program is the
Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) near Bombay
which is the presumed center for nuclear weapons
associated work. Not only was the Smiling Buddha device
designed and largely fabricated there, but the plutonium
was produced at BARC by irradiating uranium samples in
the Canadian-supplied 40 MW CIR (Canadian-Indian
Reactor) heavy water research reactor (also called Cirus).
This reactor began operating in 1960 and can produce
6.6-10.5 kg of plutonium a year (at a capacity factor of
50-80%). The reactor is not under IAEA safeguards (which
not exist when the reactor was sold), although Canada
stipulated that it only be used for peaceful purposes. India
argues that this allows its use in producing peaceful nuclear
explosives (Ramanna's recent comments are an unofficial
admission that this agreement was violated).
India probably began its development of a nuclear device
shortly after China tested its first nuclear weapon in the
mid-60s. A design had been developed by 1971, when Indira
Gandhi decided to proceed with the manufacture and test of
the device. According to Raj Ramanna, the director of BARC
at the time, it took another two years to separate, purify,
and fabricate the plutonium metal, and to manufacture the
implosion lens systems and associated electronics. Most of
the work was done at BARC, but the explosive lenses were
made by the Defense Research and Development
Organization. Apparently the precise implosion electronics
gave them considerable trouble. It is rumored that an initial
test of the device failed, probably due to a failure of these
electronics. The neutron initiator was a Po-210/Be type
code-named "Flower", which took a long time to design and
assemble. Although the assertion that the test was for
peaceful purposes can be dismissed (especially in light of
Ramanna's recent admissions), the bomb was almost
certainly an experimental test device, not a weapon in
deployable form.
Whether India actually maintains an arsenal of assembled
weapons is debatable. The US CIA testified before congress
in 1993 that it does not believe that India maintains
assembled or deployed nuclear weapons, although it
believes India is producing weapon components. In 1990 P.
K. Iyengar, then head of the Indian Atomic Energy Agency,
said "In how much time we make it, will depend on how
much time we get." The obvious conclusion is that nuclear
weapons are maintained in ready-to-assemble form.
India has developed indigenous plutonium production
reactors. On 8 August 1985 the 100 MW Dhruva was
commissioned, it is based on the Cirus design and can
produce 20-25 kg of plutonium a year. Startup problems
plagued Dhruva, but it began operating at one-quarter power
in December 1986 and reached full operation in mid-January
1988. It is capable of producing 16-26 kg of plutonium
annually (at a capacity factor of 50-80%).
An additional possible source of plutonium are a number of
unsafeguarded CANDU power reactors, including Madras
Atomic Power Stations (MAPS, known as Madras I and II, or
India has developed short and medium-range missiles.
These are the Prithvi (range 250 km, payload 500 kg), and
the Agni (range 2500 km, payload 1000 kg). Both are
capable of carrying light nuclear weapons. India has an
active space program which could provide the technology
for eve longer range weapons. India reportedly has
investigated development of an ICBM-class missile called
Suriya.
Agni
Agni awaiting launch (17 K)
Agni was successfully launched on 22 May 1989 from the
Chandipur test facility about 250 km southwest of Calcutta
at Balasore. The two-stage missile impacted 1000 km
downrange in the Bay of Bengal. Agni is named after the
Hindu god of fire.
Specifications
Length: 18.4 m
Width 1.3 m
Launch weight 16,000 kg
Propulsion: Two stage. Solid propulsion first stage is based
on the Indian Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-3) used in
satellite launches since 1979. Second stage is a shortened
version of the liquid fuel motor from the Prithvi.
PULKIT VERMA
(pulkit_verma@hotmail.com)
