U.S.based military intelligence think tank has said that satellite imagery may have blown the shroud of secrecy surrounding India’s efforts to extend a Mysore nuclear centrifuge plant for the covert production of uranium hexafluoride which may in turn be used to manufacture of hydrogen bombs.
IHS Jane’s experts had used commercial satellite imagery to identify a possible new uranium hexafluoride plant at the Indian Rare Metals Plant (IRMP) near Mysore.
As per IHS Jane
- This plant will support new centrifuges that will substantially expand India’s uranium enrichment capacity.
- It is going to facilitate the construction of an increased number of naval reactors to expand the India’s nuclear submarine fleet (especially, India’s first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant which is still not ready for sea trails).
- But this plant is potentially going to support the development of thermonuclear weapons programmne.
- Mysore’s original centrifuge plant was constructed in 1992, although in 2010 site clearance for a new, even larger, suspected centrifuge hall began. The new uranium enrichment facility could will become operational by mid- to late-2015.
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture.
They are considered as policy institute, research institute, etc. The term "think tank" originated in the 1950s, but such organizations date to the 19th century.
Most policy institutes are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax exempt status.
Other think tanks are funded by governments, advocacy groups, or businesses, or derive revenue from consulting or research work related to their projects.
Thermonuclear weapon
A thermonuclear weapon is a nuclear weapon design based upon both theories of nuclear physics i.e. nuclear fission and and nuclear fusion.
In thermonuclear weapon, it uses the heat generated by a fission reaction to compress and ignite a nuclear fusion stage.
This results in increased explosive power compared to conventional nuclear weapon based upon single nuclear physics theory.
It is ordinarily referred to as a hydrogen bomb or H-bomb because it employs hydrogen fusion, though in most applications the majority of its destructive energy comes from uranium fission, not hydrogen fusion alone.
The fusion stage in such weapons is required to efficiently to cause the large quantities of fission characteristic of most thermonuclear weapons.
The concept of the thermonuclear weapon was first developed and used in 1952 and has since been used in most of the world's nuclear weapons
The modern design of all thermonuclear weapons in the United States is known as the Teller-Ulam design for its two chief contributors, Edward Teller and Stanislaw Ulam, who developed it in 1951 for the U.S.
Thermonuclear weapons represent the most efficient design for nuclear weapon energy which can yield energy above 50 kilotons.
All the nuclear weapons deployed by the five nuclear-weapon states under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treat y (NPT) are thermonuclear weapons using the Teller–Ulam design.
NPT-designated nuclear weapon states are China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and United States
Note- India, Pakistan and Israel are nations not signatory of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Basic Principle of Thermonuclear weapon
The basic principle of the Teller-Ulam configuration is the idea that different parts of a thermonuclear weapon can be chained together in "stages".
In Teller-Ulam configuration, the detonation of each stage provides the energy to ignite the next stage.
Primary section-consists of a fission bomb (a "trigger") and fuel used is mainly plutonium-239 (Pu-239) and or uranium-235 (U-235).
Secondary section- consists of fusion fuel and fuel used is inside the casing of uranium-238 (U-238) usually a form of lithium deuteride, which is used because it is easier to weaponise
The energy released by the primary section compresses the secondary section through a process of "radiation implosion".
Secondary section when gets heated undergoes nuclear fusion.
Firing sequence of thermonuclear weapon
- Warhead before firing- primary (fission bomb) at top, secondary (fusion fuel) at bottom, all suspended in polystyrene foam.
- High-explosive fires in primary- compressing core into super criticality and beginning a fission reaction.
- Fission primary emits X-rays which are scattered along the inside of the casing, irradiating the polystyrene foam.
- Polystyrene foam becomes plasma, compressing secondary, and plutonium sparkplug begins to fission.
- Compressed and heated, lithium-6 deuteride fuel produces tritium and begins the fusion reaction. The neutron flux produced causes the U-238 tamper to fission. A fireball starts to form.
India's nuclear developments and thermonuclear weapon
India's first nuclear test occurred on May 18, 1974 codename Smiling Buddha, was not a thermonuclear device, according to the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).
On May 11, 1998, India reportedly detonated a thermonuclear bomb in its Operation Shakti tests ("Shakti-1", specifically).
There is uncertainty whether the nuclear test was based on thermonuclear concept.
Shakti-1 was a successful test, but if it was a thermonuclear device as claimed, then it failed to produce certain results that were to be expected of a thermonuclear device.
The yield of India's hydrogen bomb remains highly debatable among the Indian science community and the international scholars.
The question of politicization and disputes between Indian scientists further complicated the matter.
Director for the 1998 test site preparations, Dr. K. Santhanam, reported that yield of the thermonuclear explosion was lower than expected, although his statement has been disputed by other Indian scientists involved in the test.
Indian sources, using local data and citing a United States Geological Survey report compiling seismic data from 125 Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) stations across the world, argue that the magnitudes suggested a combined yield of up to 60 kilotonnes, consistent with the Indian announced total yield of 56 kilotonnes.
However, several independent experts have reported lower yields for the nuclear test and remained skeptical about the claims, and others have argued that even the claimed 50 kiloton yield was low for confirmation of a thermonuclear design.
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