Scientist's claims on Pokhran absurd, says Chidambaram

Chidambaram, who led the team of scientists during the 1998 nuclear tests, today dismissed as "absurd" suggestions that Pokhran-II explosions did not yield the desired results.

"There is no controversy over the yield of Pokhran-II nuclear tests. The claims are absurd," Chidambaram, who was the Chairman of the Department of Atomic Energy in 1998, said.

He was reacting to former senior DRDO scientist K Santhanam's contention that Pokhran-II tests had not met the desired objective.

Santhanam said the thermonuclear or hydrogen bomb in May 1998 was of low yield and not the one that would meet the country's strategic objectives.

"If he has any new scientific data which has not been answered in the results of the test published by us, we will be happy to look into it," said Chidambaram, who is currently the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Centre.

He said the results of the 1998 nuclear tests were published in great detail in international journals and it also take into account studies by several global experts.

"If he has any new scientific information which we are not aware of, it will be nice to have that data. He is a scientist, not a politician. Let him tell exactly what made him give that comment. Who are the seismologists he is referring to. We will go and look back," Chidambaram said.