nbsp   What is the relevance of Canadian technology to Indias recent nuclear weapons tests?
[A. CANDU Technology] [B. The Industry] [C. Cost/Benefit] [D. Safety/Liability] [E. Waste] [F. Security/Non-Proliferation] [G. Uranium] [H. Research Reactors] [I. Other R&D] [J. Further Info] On May 11 and 13, 1998, India shocked the world by conducting five underground nuclear test explosions. India was known to have nuclear weapons capability (see previous FAQ), but both the boldness of its 1998 tests (in a climate of global reduction in nuclear arsenals and tests), and the sophistication of the tests (including thermonuclear technology), took international observers by surprise. Pakistan followed shortly afterwards with nuclear test explosions of its own. The Indian tests have two possible links to Canadian-supplied technology: (1) some of the plutonium used may have been generated in the CIRUS research reactor supplied jointly by Canada and the USA about thirty years earlier (see previous FAQ); and (2) some of the tritium used in the development and implementation of India’s thermo