Operation Smiling Buddha

Operation Smiling Buddha was successfully conducted by India on May 18, 1974, which was the first confirmed nuclear test by a nation that was not a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Operation ‘Smiling Buddha’ was a landmark and courageous decision that showed our nation’s scientific prowess and made India the world’s sixth nuclear power .Which was the first confirmed nuclear test by a nation that was not a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

How was the name chosen?

* The name was chosen because the test was conducted on Buddha Purnima that year. 

* “The Buddha has finally smiled” was the message conveyed by Raja Ramanna, Director of India’s premier nuclear research institute Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)

Highlights

* The test was conducted on May 18, 1974 under the supervision of Raja Ramanna, who was then the director of India's premier nuclear research institute Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).

* Smiling Buddha' (MEA designation: Pokhran-I) was the assigned code name of India's first successful nuclear bomb test.

* With the Smiling Buddha, India became the world's sixth nuclear power after the United States, Soviet Union, Britain, France and China to successfully test out a nuclear bomb.

* It was led by a team of 75 scientists and engineers, led by Raja Ramanna, PK Iyengar, Rajagopala Chidambaram, and others had worked on it from 1967 to 1974

* It took nearly two-year preparation for India to conduct this test. 

* India tested its first fission bomb, a nuclear weapon that had the explosion power similar to the bomb dropped by the USA in Hiroshima, Japan.

* The highlight of the test was that India had managed to avoid detection by the United States and other intelligence agencies.

* It is believed that the actual yield was around 8-12 Kilotons of TNT.