Pokhran II row: Kakodkar says no more nuke tests required

Joining issue with an ex-DRDO scientist K Santhanam who claimed that Pokhran-II was not a full success and that a few more nuclear tests were required, Kakodkar said the country has strong simulation capability and additional tests were not required.

"We have enough data. We have comprehensive simulation capability and therefore there is no need for any more tests," Kakodkar said here days after K Santhanam ignited a controversy that Pokhran-II was a fizzle since the thermonuclear explosion did not give the desired yield. "We are very confident about the simulation capability."

Indian nuclear scientists had already validated and bench marked the validated tool of the three dimensional simulation for earth motion and displacement data collected following Pokhran II tests in 1998, he said.

There is no need for series of tests to validate the yield since the tool and also observations are available, he said, adding that it was published in the international journal Nuclear Technology in 2006 four years after its communication from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).

Kakodkar said BARC scientists have done the measurements meticulously and large number of diverse instrumentations were used using four independent measurements -- seismic, large teleseismic, accurate measurements at Gauribidinur seismic measurement site; radiochemical samples estimation done by different groups; specific evidence of fusion reaction and 3-d simulation of motion of earth and displacement.

Kakodkar said, BARC scientists have done the measurements meticulously and large number of diverse instrumentations were used using four independent measurements -- seismic, large teleseismic, accurate measurements at Gauribidinur seismic measurement site; radiochemical samples estimation done by different groups; specific evidence of fusion reaction and 3-d simulation of motion of earth and displacement.

Former DRDO scientist Santhanam, who was also part of the Pokhran-II nuke test group said last week that the 1998 tests were not fully successful and India should conduct more nuclear tests which are necessary from the point of view of security.