India's first nuclear test made it the first nation outside the UN Security Council's five permanent members to detonate a nuclear device, prompting formation of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
Key Facts
- Test date
- 18 May 1974, 08:05 IST
- Device weight
- 1,400 kg
- Device diameter
- 1.25 m
- Estimated yield
- 6–10 kilotons
- Design type
- Implosion-type with plutonium core
- Test site
- Pokhran Test Range, Rajasthan
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
India pursued an independent nuclear capability during the 1960s and early 1970s, driven by security concerns following the 1962 Sino-Indian War and the 1964 Chinese nuclear test. Scientists at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre developed a fission device using plutonium produced with the aid of a Canadian-supplied CIRUS reactor and US-supplied heavy water, under close direction from Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
On 18 May 1974, India detonated a plutonium implosion-type fission bomb at the Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan. The device weighed 1,400 kg and is estimated to have yielded between six and ten kilotons. The operation, code-named Smiling Buddha, was conducted in extreme secrecy and officially described by the Indian government as a peaceful nuclear explosion.
The test made India the first country outside the five permanent UN Security Council members to detonate a nuclear weapon, alarming Western governments and prompting the formation of the Nuclear Suppliers Group to restrict nuclear technology transfers. International scrutiny of India's nuclear program intensified, and Canada suspended nuclear cooperation. India subsequently conducted a second series of nuclear tests, Pokhran-II, in 1998.