Nuclear Yields and Prediction
The nuclear yields still remains highly debatable among international scholars and the Indian science community. Calculating the exact yields are very difficult even in the control environment. The question of politicising the yields further made it the matter even much more complicated and disputed the numbers of the nuclear yields. On 11 May, the yields from the three tests were put at ranged at 58 kilotons by the BARC data obtained at the site 3 km from the test shafts. The BARC officials and others defined as a "complete success, and it was determined that all the devices and their components had performed flawlessly." To remove all doubts, the senior scientists, including Abdul Kalam and R. Chidambaram, involved in the Pokhran operations addressed the press on 17 May.
In this press meet the Indian scientists claimed that the two fission device produced a yield of 15kt and 0.3kt was obtained from the low yield device. They also claimed that the thermonuclear device gave a total yield of 45kt; the 15kt force was generated from the fission trigger and 30kt from the fusion process and that the theoretical yield of the device (200 kt) was reduced to 45 kt in order to minimise seismic damage to villages near the test range. The village closest to the test range, Khetolai, was a mere 5 kilometres away. Neutral assessment by western scholars estimates that Shakti-I was between 29–35 kt, and Shakti-2 was 12kt.
In 2009 it was widely reported that a retired nuclear scientist, K. Santhanam who was closely associated with the tests, claims that the 1998 tests were not as successful as the government had claimed they were. These claims were widely dismissed in India, including a specific dismissal by Abdul Kalam, who cited evidence and data to prove his point. Another scientist, P.K. Iyengar, also echoed Santhanam's statement, and noted that: "there is a strong reason to believe that the thermonuclear device had not fully burnt." While calling for more nuclear explosion in his last interview, Iyengar quoted to BBC India that the "India's 1998 nuclear test was not a deterrent against China, though it was against Pakistan."
Read more about this topic: Pokhran-II
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