Smiling Buddha 28853 222198274 2008-06-28T01:17:04Z SmackBot 433328 Date the maintenance tags or general fixes The '''Smiling Buddha''' was the first [[nuclear testing|nuclear test explosion]] by [[India]] on [[May 18]], [[1974]] at [[Pokhran]]. It was also the first confirmed nuclear test by a nation outside the permanent five members of the [[United Nations Security Council]]. ==Preparation and design== On [[September 7]], [[1972]], Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]] gave authorization to the scientists at the [[Bhabha Atomic Research Centre]] (BARC) to manufacture the nuclear device they had designed and prepare it for a test. Throughout its development, the device was formally called the [[Peaceful nuclear explosions|"Peaceful Nuclear Explosive"]], but it was usually referred to as the Smiling Buddha. The head of the development team was [[Raja Ramanna]]. Other key members were [[P.K. Iyengar]], [[Rajagopala Chidambaram]], and [[Nagapattinam Sambasiva Venkatesan]]. The project employed no more than 75 scientists and engineers from 1967-1974. Keeping it small served to aid in the preservation of secrecy, according to the researcher Jeffrey Richelson.<ref>{{cite book |last = Richelson |first = Jefferey T. |authorlink = Jeffrey T. Richelson |title = Spying on the Bomb: American Nuclear Intelligence from Nazi Germany to Iran and North Korea |year = 1999 |month = March |publisher = WW Norton |pages = 233 |isbn = 978-0393053838}}</ref> The device used a high explosive implosion system developed at the [[DRDO]] [[Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory]] (TBRL) in [[Chandigarh]] based on the American design from [[World War II]]. But the Indian design was simpler and less sophisticated than the American system. The 6 kg of [[plutonium]] came from the [[CIRUS reactor]] at BARC. The neutron initiator was a [[Polonium]]-[[Beryllium]] type (again like those used in early U.S. bombs of the [[Fat Man]] type) code-named "Flower." The complete core was assembled in [[Trombay]] before transportation to the test site. [[Image:Indira 1974 Smiling Buddha.JPG|left|thumb|225px|[[Indira Gandhi]] at [[Pokhran]]]] The fully assembled device had a hexagonal cross section, 1.25 m in diameter and weighed 1400 kg. The device was detonated at 8.05 a.m. in a shaft 107 m under the army [[Pokhran]] test range in the [[Thar Desert]] (or Great Indian Desert), [[Rajasthan]]. Coodinates of the crater are {{coord|27.095|N|71.753|E|display=inline}}. Officially the [[nuclear weapon yield|yield]] was reported at 12 [[kiloton#ton of TNT|kt]], though outside estimates of the yield vary from 2 kt to 20 kt. ==Code name== Smiling Buddha was the code-name of the project as a signal to China and was scheduled to occur on May 18, 1974 (the official test date), [[Buddha Jayanti]], a festival day in India marking the birth of [[Gautama Buddha]]. The code name of the project has been listed as Operation Happy Krishna according to US Military resources. The then-[[Prime Minister of India|PM]] [[Indira Gandhi]] was not present at [[Pokhran]] so as to keep this operation confidential until the last minute. In her full cabinet, only her NSA and private secretary knew about it.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} On May 18, 1974, when the blast occurred successfully, Dr. Ramanna wanted to tell this news to the Prime Minister, who was miles away in Delhi. The hotline was not working, so he went to a nearby village and called her from an ordinary landline and said "Madam, Buddha has finally smiled."{{Fact|date=June 2008}} ==Effects== In [[1975]], Homi Sethna (chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission), Raja Ramanna and Nag Chaudhuri (head of the DRDO) received the ''[[Padma Vibhushan]]'' - India's second highest civilian award. Five other project members received the ''[[Padma Shri]]'' - India's fourth highest civilian award. The [[CIRUS reactor]] used to produce the plutonium was a research reactor based on the [[NRX]] design and donated by [[Canada]] in 1960, with heavy water supplied by the US; ("[[CIRUS reactor| CIRUS]]" = Canada-India Research U.S.). The Smiling Buddha test caused a public outcry in Canada, and the Canadian government cut off exchange of nuclear materials and technology with India in the wake of the test. India did not carry out any further nuclear tests until the successful [[Operation Shakti]] in 1998. A further effect of India's nuclear test was the formation of the [[Nuclear Suppliers Group]] also known as the London Club. == The Smiling Buddha Deity== Smiling Buddha refers to [[Maitreya]] or [[Budai]]. ==Notes== <references/> == External links == *[http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/India/IndiaSmiling.html India's Nuclear Weapons Program Smiling Buddha: 1974] [[Category:Indian nuclear explosive tests]] [[Category:1974 in India]] [[Category:Underground nuclear explosive tests]] [[bg:Усмихнатият Буда]] [[de:Operation Smiling Buddha]] [[es:Smiling Buddha]] [[id:Smiling Buddha]] [[ja:インドの核実験 (1974年)]]