India’s first nuclear test

In May 1974 India successfully detonated its first atomic device. It had been developed in secret with the codename Smiling Buddha.

India called it a peaceful nuclear explosion, though the experimental device was in effect a plutonium bomb.

The test was seen as a triumph of Indian science and technology, but it led to the suspension of international nuclear cooperation with India, and spurred Pakistan to speed up development of its own nuclear bomb.

Dr SK Sikka, who was one of India’s leading nuclear scientists, spoke to Alex Last in 2018 about his role in the secret project.

Dr Sikka died in 2023 at the age of 82.

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(Photo: A crater showing the aftermath of the nuclear test. Credit: Reuters)

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