Rubbishing doubts on the efficacy of the hydrogen bomb test in 1998, Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar today said scientists have achieved success in building a deterrence capability of up to 200 kiltons.

"Once again I would like to re-emphasise that the 1998 nuclear tests were fully successful. We had achieved all the objectives in toto. It has given us the capability to build deterrence based on both fission and thermonuclear weapon systems from modest
to all the way upto 200 kilotons," he said, addressing a press conference.

Kakodkar, who was director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in 1998, termed as "unnecessary" the controversy over the Pokhran-II nuclear tests, triggered after claims by a former DRDO scientist that the hydrogen bomb experiment was a failure.

R Chidambaram, chairman of the AEC in 1998 and current principal scientific advisor to the Union government, made a presentation on the results of the Pokhran-II nuclear
tests.

Former DRDO scientist K Santhanam, who was DRDO coordinator for the 1998 tests, had claimed that the thermonuclear test was much below expectation. Santhanam had also demanded an inquiry into the test results by an independent panel of experts.