Kakodkar a liar, says Santhanam

NEW DELHI: One of the key figures in India's 1998 thermonuclear test, scientist K Santhanam, has accused former Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar of bluffing the armed forces for stating that the country has a credible hydrogen bomb deterrent. Santhanam made the remarks in a conversation with TOI after Kakodkar assured the armed forces that “there is no issue about the arsenal at their command” when it came to thermonuclear deterrent.

In a TV interview, Kakodkar also said that Santhanam did not know because he was not involved. Kakodkar’s assertion is strange because Santhanam, as the project director, was responsible for test site preparations. “I can only describe what he is saying as an absolute lie. As the programme coordinator, I was responsible for not just the entire management but also site instrumentation meant to measure the yields,” the former DRDO scientist told TOI.

As for Kakodkar’s assertion that India had more than one thermonuclear bomb, Santhanam said the scientific truth would not change. Kakodkar also said in the interview that because of the expansion of knowledge base and capabilities, one could carry out a design and on the basis of that design and test, build a range of systems right up to 200 kilotonnes. Santhanam responded by stating India was far behind the claims being made officially.

“There is a difference between confidence in a design and assured performance of the design to meet the services’ requirements. These are just airy-fairy claims. The services were initially kept in the dark, maybe for valid reasons. It is great to know that they are now waking up to the need for proven designs,” said Santhanam. Taking a dig at BARC, the scientist said that it wouldn’t be possible for “the Bombaywallahs to pull the wool over the eyes of the armed forces, government and people for long”.

In his TV interview, Kakodkar also said that Dr P K Iyengar, eminent scientist who has supported Santhanam all along, had no idea about the 1998 tests and that DRDO was responsible for only logistical support, another assertion which was described as a lie by Santhanam. Kakodkar described as erroneous Santhanam’s conclusion that the yield for the thermonuclear device was much lower than claimed.

“The yield of thermonuclear tests was verified, not by one method but several methods based on different principles, done by different groups. These have been reviewed in detail and, in fact, I had described the tests in 1998 as perfect and I stand by that,” said Kakodkar.