Title: The May 1998 Pokhran tests: scientific aspects

Authors: R. Chidambaram

Addresses: Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India, 318 Vigyan Bhavan Annexe, 110 001 New Delhi, India

Abstract: On 11 and 13 May 1998, India conducted five carefully planned and fully successful nuclear tests, including that of a two-stage thermonuclear device with a fusion-boosted fission trigger as the first stage and with all the features needed for integration with delivery vehicles at the controlled yield of 45 kt, and of three sub-kiloton fission devices from the point of view of developing low-yield weapons and of validating new weapon-related ideas and sub-systems. These tests also established the computer simulation capability to predict the yields of nuclear weapons (fission, boosted fission and two-stage thermonuclear) of designs related to the designs of the devices tested by India.

Keywords: nuclear tests; nuclear weapons; thermonuclear devices; simulation.

DOI: 10.1504/AFP.2008.019890

Atoms for Peace: an International Journal, 2008 Vol.2 No.1, pp.41 - 58

Published online: 13 Aug 2008 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article