Pokhran II successful, insists Kalam

NEW DELHI: Seeking to put a lid on the controversy over Pokhran II nuclear explosions, former President A P J Abdul Kalam on Thursday said the tests were successful and had generated the desired yield.

"After the test, there was a detailed review, based on the two experimental results: (i) seismic measurement close to the site and around and (ii) radioactive measurement of the material after post shot drill in the test site," Kalam said.

"From these data, it has been established by the project team that the design yield of the thermo-nuclear test has been obtained," said Kalam, who as director general of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, spearheaded the nuclear tests in 1998.

India conducted five nuclear tests on May 11 and 13, 1998 at the Pokhran range in Rajasthan which included a 45 kiloton (kt) thermonuclear device, called as hydrogen bomb in common parlance.

The other tests on May 11 included a 15 kt fission device and a 0.2 kt sub-kiloton device. The two simultaneous nuclear tests on May 13 were also in the sub-kiloton range -- 0.5 and 0.3 kt.

Kalam, also scientific adviser to the defence minister, R Chidambaram who was chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Anil Kakodkar, then director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, were key players in the Pokhran II nuclear tests.