Dielectica traverses through the literature on this device – and summarizes as they appear.
Correspondence prepared by: Aakash Hossain, School of Materials Sciences and Nanotechnology, Jadavpur University (23rd September, 2020 08:30 IST)
KOLKATA: The advent of nuclear science and production of atomic energy was started in India under the initiative of a group of scientists led by physicist Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha (often referred as “The Indian Oppenheimer”) shortly after the independence of India on 15th August’ 1947. This led to the formation of the Atomic Energy Act in 1948, which created the Indian Atomic Energy Commission, whose purpose was to develop and control the atomic energy to fulfil the necessities connected with it. During that time, the Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru believed that India’s nuclear program primarily to be focussed on peaceful applications and not for the creation of any weapons [1]. Although, he later opened the doorway for using nuclear energy to create weapons, for which the nation was compelled to do so. India also opposed the Baruch Plan of the United States [2], which proposed an American monopoly on the control of nuclear energy, on the grounds that such a plan restricted national research and development of atomic energy.
In 1954, the construction of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at Trombay led to the serious development of India as a nuclear power and eventually BARC became the primary research centre for India’s nuclear energy program. In 1955, Canada collaborated with India by providing a nuclear reactor based on the National Research Experimental Reactor (NRX) at Chalk river, Ontario[3]. The Canada-India Reactor Utility Services (CIRUS) was established thereafter, which completed the project in July 1960. However, most of the plutonium grade weapons, which were produced by CIRUS, were used for India’s first nuclear test. A further agreement was signed at that time with the United States government for providing 21 tons of heavy water for the reactor under the “Atoms for Peace” program [4]. Later on, India designed a pool type reactor in 1955, for which United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority used to supply uranium fuel elements [5]. The reactor named as Apsara, was inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru in 20th January 1957 [6]. Finally, in 1958, a third reactor was designed in Trombay, named as ZERLINA (Zero Energy Reactor for Lattice Investigation and New Assemblies) which was commissioned in 1961[7].
In February 1965, Dr. Bhabha visited Washington DC seeking for an American collaboration through the project Plowshare program, in which India could initiate peaceful nuclear explosions to test her nuclear weapons. But at the end, America went against this nuclear co-operation with India. In the year 1966, physicist Dr. Raja Ramanna took charge as the head of BARC after Dr. Bhabha’s death in a plane crash and became the principal designer behind India’s first nuclear device. India wanted to eliminate the western interference in her journey towards being a nuclear power. In the year 1968, India refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which could not differentiate between military and peaceful nuclear explosion and it only recognised the United States, Britain and Soviet Union as nuclear weapon states. In September 1972, under the leadership of Dr. Raja Ramanna and with the approval of Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, India got the approval for testing her first nuclear device. Finally, on 18th May 1974, BARC tested the first nuclear explosive device weighing 3000 pounds and creating an energy surge equivalent to 8 kilotons of TNT. A team of 75 scientists were involved in the designing of the plutonium device. The test, officially known as Pokhran I, was very often referred as the “Smiling Buddha” [8]. After this test, India lost her support from Canada and the United States of America, who considered it as a violation of the “Atoms for Peace” program. After 1974, India had to face difficulties in procuring nuclear materials from a suddenly hostile international market. Almost two decades went by for preparing a nuclear arsenal which was capable of military deployment. The BARC leadership, after facing all the challenges, constructed its largest nuclear plant till date which is the Dhruva reactor in 1977 at Trombay which reached its full potential by 1988. Consequently, the Defence Research and Development Lab (DRDL) designed short range (Prithvi) and long range (Agni) missiles both of which were equipped with nuclear warheads. During the regime of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, India officially became a nuclear state. Five nuclear devices were tested on May 11th 1998 under the Pokhran II series during the period of physicist Dr. Rajagopala Chidambaram as head of BARC. Although not all of them detonated, the energy surge created was equivalent to 45 kilotons of TNT (16 kilotons according to independent sources). After this massive success, India established the National Security Advisory Board, where a no first-use-policy was devised for Indian nuclear weapons. But it was later amended that if any biological or chemical attack initiated against India, these nuclear weapons can be used. In 2005, India signed a civil nuclear agreement with the United States of America, by which India got an access to buy nuclear materials through international suppliers in exchange of which India has to protect the civilian nuclear facilities, which also includes inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency [9]. To this day, the prime minister of India, Narendra Damodar Modi chairs the Nuclear Command Authority to call for a nuclear strike. The estimated nuclear warheads possessed by India at present are 135. Henceforth, for every Indian it is a matter of pride that India has achieved and still continues to achieve milestones in nuclear research, which not only makes Indian military strong but is also playing an important role in the daily lives of ordinary civilians.
References-
- International nuclear programs- Indian Nuclear program. Atomic Heritage Foundation
- The Baruch Plan by Bernard Baruch (June 1946). Atomic Heritage Foundation
- 50 year old Research N-Reactor shut down. Outlookindia.com/newswire
- Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace program-Nuclear Power Today. Atomic Heritage Foundation
- “India’s First atomic reactor- Science Notes and News” . Current science. August 1956. Retrieved 3rd September 2017
- “Apsara Nuclear Reactor”- NTI Nuclear Security Index. Retrieved 12th April 2015. Archived 19th April 2015
- “Atomic Research for Asian Welfare”- Press Information Bureau of India. Archived from the original from August 8th 2017
- “Bhabha’s quest for the bomb” by George Perkovich- Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Vol. 56 No. 3. Pages 54-63
- U.S.- India: Civil Nuclear Cooperation. Archive of the U.S. Department of State.