Bombay D-400 l 61 and D-J# l J0 6lj REF j v I AC Otl DEPT o I t o - _ - o rR P f f-_ _1_ _ -L Io ' i t t -i - JPY It tZv t 6 Possible Indian Desire tor lfuc ear e_apons Developne 0 1p __ f- v 11 II SUBJECT 1 - 1 - GBP-f ' fs - i r _ c tA- -1o A fi c- 1LMJ b- Lli P- i J -rv J Ji 41 1 Cr I - d Jt - t0- -1 te India could produce a mt lea r ttenpon in ho y o rs eo -H1 it 1-ranted to but it has no intention or cioi lg sc That in essence is the COilrilent or two leading Indian atomic energy off 'icialo on the stateoient- maae-- t o the press in New Delhi oo February 2 l9ol by their chief Dr Homi J BliABM 1 ChairJian of the Indian Atomic i llergy Commission see Nei'l Delhi D-775 Y 1 L In a conversation with the reporting officer last week Mr H N SE'L'HNA H-ad of the Chemical Group ot the Atomic i nergy Establi hment AEE at Trombay-1 aseerted that OJ country with some industrial base - the UAR tor example could produce a nuclear device within a period of about five years India he said could of courset do the job in a much shorter time inasmuch as it already has an operating atomic establishment But the fact h added Sethna India ie not interested in producing a nuclear weapon Alide from the foreign policy queationa involved on which Iadia 1e position b well known India i t it wanted nuclear weapons wuld have to marshal all its etfo a ill the field of atomic -11M e l3 energy toward that one end It clearq is not doinC eo aaid Sethna r rvct For a ample Set tma pointed out the propoHd 00 NW atcNaio power plant at Tara will be run to Jl'Od uce energ oa a cc urcial baal1 iiconoiiS c operation o he plant will require that tl e natura1 uraniaR tal - aesum ing for thi ptint hat the tuel will ill tact be natural ura ni aa- ban a lrumup 1 or t aome pwatt-d a M D per ton The plutonium produced in tbia operation volild 11111eh Pu 240 and wuld DOt be desirable for wapona production It India 3 ' 00 - v p 'Waii1Jel4 to obtain weapo u-grade pl utoal'llllt tH Perap burmap ot uranius hel should elld 600-aXI KWD t eftl uld trt tbe eAt ot ptOChll lJac tnnar the - ad 1o ' ot tt JMoU C s hna at L o - I -j ' - 5- r does Izd1 han M7 p1a '- ua 1M 1M sr_ OC' ot plu'touiua wbiob r ' be been generat ea to date r openU ol tile a _lndia Reactor at _ - lraalbq according to Setbna Furthermore Sethna aaid 1t India wwrted to p lhea4 witb uuolear weapons dehlop a ent it would be impoallible to aintaiA tbe neoeHar r ncx-eoy Numbero ot for era rrom Asia and Africa and neo trca fimlsa T have undergone traimng t AU Trombay to w - Radloo at r r Divbion r others 'W1ll cal __ I ' lid tibed ib --- iir'- ' ftft' L ' I - _ tO 1UA llnlOft 1 1 Gt J l 'fflatMEli i r i j tr o 7 1 - _ _ I - I o o ACTION COPY - DEPAltTitfENT OF STATE 1rt1cemut t - o mo n r an nf' o - o t Anr tn ' n' 'f' ' j - 1 -'- tcJ - - i o tJ - lJ- ' Rtf - - otJPYLASStiftED Authority Nn l Z o l ncl ' u _ _ _ _ Ocsp No _4 fJ4 From- o e 1 BCHBAY 2 2 0 61 - -- I ' Taylo or the AEE are nation3ls So is B C Allardice Controller or the AEE Several C_anadians have been connected d th the oporation o the Canada-India Reactor - 'l t_ w d no t be possibl to k ep th se forj igners from learning or any error l J i thd dir cticn or apons developwent o J G A Welch and the Head o the Isotop9 Division C B tish 1 ' In another recent conversation with the porting officer Kr M N CHAKH VARTI head of the Tarapur power project deplored Br bh 1 s stateae t concerning India's ability to p -oduce a nuclea - t e3pon Such a statement uas morcly bdulging i 1 bravado and India could well do d thout it Chakravarti also decried as political the referenc s by Bhabha in his recent press conference to Inriia's nead for a first gi neration ot natural-uranium po l er stations and to India 1 s opposition to ft tt gu aris S1 teh t tem nh said Cba n r -ti t l b pl - e ne dl ss obstat l s in the way or his oun job to get the Tarapur plant built and into e ticient operation - Comment Sethna 1 r rks are ot inte st since he is he leading scien itic figure on the Indian at c ener scene a tor Bhabha 1 and is eomT on 7 consid red to be Bhabha's elosest adviser s comment concerning the desirable bur up o uranium for production o weapons-grade plutonium indicatss sensitivity to the issue 1 which bas been mentioned in recent months by representatiTeS Of westinghouse and General I Alectric see 3cmbay D-400 and D-444 Chakravarti who completed a very succe stul career in the Indian railroads before joining Bhabha's starr has been privatel7 critical on several paat occasions of wha he c s is Bhabha's ineptness as an administrator o Althougb the Consulate General recognizes the pitfalls it tentatively aec e pts view that India has at least not yet embarked on a sical program ot nuclear weapons develop nal' lt bother India will do DO will depend on issues o national poliGy tt t transcend even Dr Bbabha's preeminent role in the field ol atawic th energy Pruu Miniater Nehru 'a repugnance to the develoJXDent of nuclear weapgoa stemmed from a combination of 110ral ity and pra atiem which was attuned t o Indiaos # situation in the world The moral iasue is the aaJne but the realities of the d117 - -- change lithin the past two 1ears Coanuniet China hae emerged ao a threat to India's security Relations with Paldatan have improved but Kashmir remains a otumbling block if Meanwhile the spread of technology raises the opecter of a dif usion of nuclear-weapons capabUity aamg oountrho not now in the o4Uelear olub In these circumstances it is ressonable to assume that rosponaible Iodian officials have at least coat ell ted 1 no planned or poollibly _n -' Ji A despatch frOIJl Karachi on February 1 1961 by The Times ol lndia NeW Sel tice quoted Foreign Minister Qadir aa follows 1n an ia ormal talk to n8Wsmen ln case India is enabled to saanu acture a nuclear derl ce Paldstan camtot af 'ord to remain complacent We too shall have to match it We shall ' have to make evert conceivable etfort and explore all possible o enues to do thle ' n The 'l'imts of India BombaJPY FebrW ry 14 1961 The Indbn gxol'4tf t - carried a similar Hport fl'OIIl i te correspondent in K racbi _ ' - ' f - - t t i 1 o - - - - - - - - 4 - ' -' oo - -- - h - o --1 'tC' Ot't 't'Ilih- - - - v --DECLASSU IED - IAulhority NNOii tj o1a J q - J d- '4--' - c 0 c c iui ohiAu - -- o Lml J u_ _ _ M aDesp No J - _ ' From Amcongen J O iBAY 2 2 J 61 CldJiipc lon o augurated some effort at nuclear wea90ns develo9111ent coneernine th$ GBPacts prudence requires that constantly pres nt th Wbat ver our assum Jtion assumption be reviewed l t Robert M C t r America -1 Con ul Cteneral --- ' - oo ' lt ooo - o 1- _j Lr C-UU l l L ' I vI 'UM ' -- J ' This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu