Already Debunked by BARC And Atomic Energy Commission
Dr Anil Kakodkar, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, refuted Santhanam's claims saying after Pokhran II, India now had the capability to build a deterrent.
It had "given us capability to build deterrent ...India has shown transparency over Pokhran-II results...There should be no doubt over yield of bomb tests," said Dr Kakodkar.
Defending the test, Dr R Chidambaram said that it was a perfect success and the doubts raised over it were unjustified.
"Rhetoric is not a substitute for good science. No other nuclear state has published more test data," said Dr Chidambaram, adding that there was limit to information that could be revealed.
Dr Santhanam had created a storm a few weeks ago when he claimed that the 1998 tests were not a complete success. Now, a day after the National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan called his statements incorrect and horrific, Dr Sathanam stuck to his assertions.
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pokhran-ii-a-success-says-kakodkar-402088
Krishnamurthy Santhanam was the field director of DRDO during the tests of Pokhran-II. His views carry more weightage than the others.
Santhanam's views on nuke test are a clincher: ex-AEC chairman
Agencies , Agencies : Mumbai, Fri Sep 25 2009, 11:45 hrs
In the midst of the controversy over the success of the 1998 thermonuclear test, nuclear scientist P K Iyengar has said the views of former DRDO scientist K Santhanam on the issue are the "clincher".
There is a "strong reason to believe that the thermonuclear device had not fully burnt and, therefore, further testing was called for," Iyengar, a former Atomic Energy Commission Chairman, said in a statement on Thursday.
He rejected the statement attributed to him by government's Principal Scientific Advisor R Chidambaram on the outcome of the 1998 thermonulcear test, saying he was "misquoted" by him on something he had written in 2000.
He said Chidambaram had "tried to imply that I am in agreement with the official number for the yield of the thermonuclear test of 45 kilotons and that I, therefore, also agree that the thermonuclear device was a success. This is not correct. What I wrote in a newspaper article published in August 2000 was that if one goes by the numbers for the total nuclear yield put out by the Department of Atomic Energy, which I see no reason to dispute, the yield of the thermonuclear device detonated on May 11, 1998, was around 40 kilotons. This is a rather low yield."
The crux of that article was that even if one were to accept without question the DAE yield of 40 kt, there is a strong reason to believe that the thermonuclear device had not fully succeeded, Iyengar said.
Terming the test as "fully successful", AEC Chairman Anil Kakodkar and Chidambaram had said that the controversy triggered by Santhanam, was "unnecessary".
Iyengar said the revelations by Santhanam, who was associated with Pokhran II, are the "clincher".
Santhanam was one of the four leaders associated with Pokhran-II and must certainly have known many of the details, particularly with regard to the seismic measurements, Iyengar said.
He said, "If he (Santhanam) says that the yield was much lower than projected, that there was virtually no crater formed, and that these reservations were formally presented by DRDO in 1998 itself, then there is considerable justification for reasonable doubt regarding the credibility of the thermonuclear test and, therefore, of our nuclear deterrent."
http://archive.indianexpress.com/ne...e-test-are-a-clincher-exaec-chairman/521514/0