Smiling Buddha,India’s first nuclear test,a near failure: US secret cables.

[Manindra]

The first nuclear weapon test carried out by India in 1974 was a “near failure”, claimed a secret US assessment made in 1996, but it does not explain the reasons for it to arrive at such a conclusion.

The National Security Archive (NSA), which obtained these documents from the State Department under the Freedom of Information Act and made it public yesterday, noted that such an assertion by the US intelligence community may be a reference to the very low explosive yield of the 1974 nuclear tests.

The nuclear tests codenamed ‘Operation Smiling Buddha’, tested a thermonuclear device in the Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan. Though the yield of the device is debated since then, it is believed that the actual yield was around 8-12 Kilotons of TNT.

The intelligence assessment dated January 24, 1996 also revealed that it was the Indian scientific community who was pushing the then Prime Minister, Narasimha Rao, for another nuclear test.

“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 said without giving any further explanation of the reasons for such a conclusion.

The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) on its website claimed that the nuclear tests conducted by India on May 18, 1974 may have only been partially successful.

“The device was placed in a vertical shaft and detonated at a depth of 107 meters. It is reported that the American intelligence community estimated that the actual yield was in the range of 4 to 6 kilotons. The test produced a crater with a radius variously reported at between 47 and 75 meters, and a depth of about 10 meters,” FAS says.

“High-resolution commercial satellite imagery discloses that the subsidence area proper has a radius of about 60 meters, and is surrounded by a distinctive heart-shaped perimeter with a radius of roughly 80 meters,” it said.



idrw.org

 

[Echo_419]

Kya baat kar rahe ho

 

[DeathInvader]

Yup, has to be if the USA say so. Pun intended

 

[DrSomnath999]

Funny everytime some person come out from nowhere to howl that india's nuclear test was this much successful & that much failure

i am sure if india does Pokhran 3 also some guy out of planet mars would come out and say india's nuclear test was partially sucessfull & partially failure

Oh common gimme a break!!
Now what is the criteria of complete success to drop nuclear bombs in your enemy land directly to confirm complete success

 

[SirHatesALot]

Funny everytime some person come out from nowhere to howl that india's nuclear test was this much successful & that much failure

i am sure if india does Pokhran 3 also some guy out of planet mars would come out and say india's nuclear test was partially sucessfull & partially failure

Oh common gimme a break!!

Pokhran 3 already failed,Americans predicted it early.

 

[Jayanta]

Now can somebody please explain me what is the difference between "failure", "near failure" and "successful".

 

[SRP]

Hypocrisy at its best.

 

[Luffy 500]

Duh, it was DRDO made. The fact that it wasn't a failure with all the Russian and canadian help is definitely a miracle.

 

[Foo_Fighter]

Duh, it was DRDO made. The fact that it wasn't a failure with all the Russian and canadian help is definitely a miracle.

 

[SRP]

Duh, it was DRDO made. The fact that it wasn't a failure with all the Russian and canadian help is definitely a miracle.

But this drdo junk of 1974 is enough to kill your million plus population. Do not cry like Americans crying from 1974.

BTW what is the capability of Bangladesh? Can they produce their own grenade?

 

[asad71]

Hypocrisy at its best.

Hypocrisy is naming a WMD after this great teacher who had preached peace and love - ahimsa parama dharma.

 

[invincible]

The first nuclear weapon test carried out by India in 1974 was a “near failure”, claimed a secret US assessment made in 1996, but it does not explain the reasons for it to arrive at such a conclusion.

The National Security Archive (NSA), which obtained these documents from the State Department under the Freedom of Information Act and made it public yesterday, noted that such an assertion by the US intelligence community may be a reference to the very low explosive yield of the 1974 nuclear tests.

The nuclear tests codenamed ‘Operation Smiling Buddha’, tested a thermonuclear device in the Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan. Though the yield of the device is debated since then, it is believed that the actual yield was around 8-12 Kilotons of TNT.

The intelligence assessment dated January 24, 1996 also revealed that it was the Indian scientific community who was pushing the then Prime Minister, Narasimha Rao, for another nuclear test.

“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 said without giving any further explanation of the reasons for such a conclusion.

The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) on its website claimed that the nuclear tests conducted by India on May 18, 1974 may have only been partially successful.

“The device was placed in a vertical shaft and detonated at a depth of 107 meters. It is reported that the American intelligence community estimated that the actual yield was in the range of 4 to 6 kilotons. The test produced a crater with a radius variously reported at between 47 and 75 meters, and a depth of about 10 meters,” FAS says.

“High-resolution commercial satellite imagery discloses that the subsidence area proper has a radius of about 60 meters, and is surrounded by a distinctive heart-shaped perimeter with a radius of roughly 80 meters,” it said.



idrw.org

Looks more to me as if they are saving their face as they only came to know about the explosion after it was told by our PM

 

[Android]

Hypocrisy is naming a WMD after this great teacher who had preached peace and love - ahimsa parama dharma.

Smiling Buddha was a peaceful nuclear test conducted for developing techniques to use nuclear explosion for peaceful purposes not a nuclear weapon test which are conducted for making bombs

Peaceful nuclear explosions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[SRP]

Hypocrisy is naming a WMD after this great teacher who had preached peace and love - ahimsa parama dharma.

What you want we open our doors and ask them to throw a nuclear bomb into our home or nuclear black mailing. As far Ahimsa is concerned i do not want to debate it in this thread.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

At the end of the day and setting national prides apart, it's irrelevant

In the sub continent the nukes will stay in their silos; hopefully there won't ever be nuclear exchanges because the entire region will be uninhabitable for hundreds of years.

Things would have to reach such a climax and point of no return for nuclear option to be utilized