<p>The first nuclear weapon test carried out by India in 1974 was a “near failure,” claimed a secret US assessment made in 1996. It, however, did not explain the reasons for such a conclusion.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The National Security Archive (NSA), which obtained these documents from the State Department under the Freedom of Information Act and made it public on Friday, noted that such an assertion by the US intelligence might be an upshot of the very low explosive yield of the test.<br /><br />The exercise, codenamed “Operation Smiling Buddha,” tested a thermonuclear device at the Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan. Though the yield of the device has been debated ever since, it is believed to be around 8-12 kilotons of TNT.<br /><br />The intelligence assessment, dated January 24, 1996, also revealed that it was the Indian scientific community which was pushing erstwhile prime minister Narasimha Rao for another nuclear test.<br /><br />“Rao’s scientists may be pushing for one or more tests of India’s unproven nuclear design, which probably needed significant reworking after the near failure of the 1974 test,” the intelligence assessment stated. <br /><br />The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) claimed on its website that the nuclear tests, conducted by India on May 18, 1974, “may have only been partially successful.”<br /><br />“The device was placed in a vertical shaft and detonated at a depth of 107 metres. It is reported that the American intelligence community estimated that the actual yield was in the range of four to six kilotons. The test produced a crater with a radius variously reported between 47 and 75 metres, and a depth of about 10 metres,” FAS said.<br /><br /> “High-resolution commercial satellite imagery discloses that the subsidence area proper has a radius of about 60 metres and is surrounded by a distinctive heart-shaped perimeter with a radius of roughly 80 metres,” it added. To maintain secrecy on the tests, the project employed no more than 75 scientists and engineers, who worked on it between 1967 and 1974. <br /><br /></p>
<p>The first nuclear weapon test carried out by India in 1974 was a “near failure,” claimed a secret US assessment made in 1996. It, however, did not explain the reasons for such a conclusion.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The National Security Archive (NSA), which obtained these documents from the State Department under the Freedom of Information Act and made it public on Friday, noted that such an assertion by the US intelligence might be an upshot of the very low explosive yield of the test.<br /><br />The exercise, codenamed “Operation Smiling Buddha,” tested a thermonuclear device at the Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan. Though the yield of the device has been debated ever since, it is believed to be around 8-12 kilotons of TNT.<br /><br />The intelligence assessment, dated January 24, 1996, also revealed that it was the Indian scientific community which was pushing erstwhile prime minister Narasimha Rao for another nuclear test.<br /><br />“Rao’s scientists may be pushing for one or more tests of India’s unproven nuclear design, which probably needed significant reworking after the near failure of the 1974 test,” the intelligence assessment stated. <br /><br />The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) claimed on its website that the nuclear tests, conducted by India on May 18, 1974, “may have only been partially successful.”<br /><br />“The device was placed in a vertical shaft and detonated at a depth of 107 metres. It is reported that the American intelligence community estimated that the actual yield was in the range of four to six kilotons. The test produced a crater with a radius variously reported between 47 and 75 metres, and a depth of about 10 metres,” FAS said.<br /><br /> “High-resolution commercial satellite imagery discloses that the subsidence area proper has a radius of about 60 metres and is surrounded by a distinctive heart-shaped perimeter with a radius of roughly 80 metres,” it added. To maintain secrecy on the tests, the project employed no more than 75 scientists and engineers, who worked on it between 1967 and 1974. <br /><br /></p>