AEC chairman Anil Kakodkar (File photo) NEW DELHI: Former Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman Anil Kakodkar has allayed fears that a nuclear device, lost in an avalanche over 60 years ago after a failed attempt to place it near Nanda Devi peak in the Himalayas as part of a mission to monitor Chinese nuke tests, could cause radiation in Uttarakhand and the Ganga.“Absolutely nil,’’ Kakodkar told TOI on Friday when asked specifically if there was a chance of the lost device later causing an environmental disaster in areas near Nanda Devi. The statement assumes significance as reports have resurfaced — some as recent as last month — suggesting the SNAP-19-C device of Oct 1965 could cause radiation. The top-secret mission to install the portable nuclear generator was a joint operation of India’s Intelligence Bureau and the US spy agency CIA.Kakodkar asserted the device was “very strong and, above all, corrosion-free”. “So, as per my understanding, there was an extremely slim chance of it getting breached. I know that the integrity of the nuclear capsule was very good so there was no cause for alarm.”The former Indian nuclear chief explained the deployment further, saying “there was a need for power supply for the mission and nuclear power was the answer”.Led by well-known Indian mountaineer MS Kohli, the mission was essentially a response to a nuclear test Beijing had carried out on Oct 16, 1964, at Lop Nor in China’s Xinjiang region.The challenging project was conceived at a cocktail party at National Geographic Society’s office in Washington DC during a conversation between General Curtis Le May, former head of the US Air Force, and eminent American mountaineer Barry Bishop.The story was first broken in US magazine Outside in April 1978 by an investigative reporter, Howard Kohn. It was titled “The Nanda Devi Caper”. India came to know about the super-secret operation when former PM Morarji Desai made a disclosure about it in Parliament on April 17, 1978.Recently, the Uttarakhand tourism ministry expressed fears that the lost device could prove an environmental hazard and requested PM Narendra Modi to take up the issue with US officials.BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has also brought up the matter, wondering on social media whether the device “was causing environmental havoc”. A former RAW official, RK Yadav, had expressed similar fears, publishing a book on the subject in 2019 called Nuclear Bomb In Ganga.End of ArticleFollow Us On Social MediaVideosShankh Air Founder Speaks Out As Airline Eyes March Launch, Targets Intl Flights By 2029’Their Islamist Ideas…’: Ex-Bangladesh Minister Hits Out Over Attacks on Hindus And Christians’Very Petty & Shameful’: Shashi Tharoor On Row Over KKR Selecting Bangladeshi Player In IPLINLD President Calls For Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal Type Uprising In India Politics, Triggers RowBJP Claims Rahul Gandhi Ties To ‘Anti-India’ Panel Over US Lawmakers’ Umar Khalid LetterNot All Are Illiterate: Rajnath Singh Cites Red Fort Blast, Flags Educated, White Collar Terrorists’Arunachal Pradesh Is And Will Always Be…’ Jaishankar Warns China, Blasts Harassment Of IndiansBullet Train Gets August 15, 2027 India Launch Date, Minister Shares Details On Tunnel BreakthroughCleanest City Hit By Water Contamination As Lab Links Indore Diarrhoea Outbreak To Pipeline LeakUS Lawmaker Raja Krishnamoorthi Condemns Violence Against Hindus In Bangladesh Urges Global Action Up123Photostories7 foods to combine with sweet potato for a wholesome breakfastOlder people who live happily, do these 10 things in their 30 and 40s8 winter pickles to add warmth and taste to your mealsLessons from centenarians: What the world’s longest-living people eat‘Shark Tank India Season 5’: FULL LIST of judges, their net worth, and the brands they ownKylie Jenner-Timothée Chalamet to complete 3 years of dating in 2026: 3 relationship lessons to learn from themHow to make Dhaba-style Dal Makhani at homeAttract True Love During the January 2026 Full Moon; According To Birth Number10 oldest trees in the world that are still living and where can they be foundBest mushroom varieties for vitamin D and how to cook them123Hot PicksPremarital Test OmanVande Bharat Sleeper TrainJanuary Bank holidayGold rate todayIncome Tax RefundBahrain Golden Visa 2025Bank Holidays DecemberTop TrendingJustin Thomas Net WorthWWE Star Nikki BellaCardi BCeeDee Lamb Luxury Car CollectionStefon DiggsCaitlin ClarkTom BradyMicah Parsons vs CeeDee Lamb Net WorthNHL Injury UpdateVanessa Bryant

AEC chairman Anil Kakodkar (File photo) NEW DELHI: Former Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman Anil Kakodkar has allayed fears that a nuclear device, lost in an avalanche over 60 years ago after a failed attempt to place it near Nanda Devi peak in the Himalayas as part of a mission to monitor Chinese nuke tests, could cause radiation in Uttarakhand and the Ganga.“Absolutely nil,’’ Kakodkar told TOI on Friday when asked specifically if there was a chance of the lost device later causing an environmental disaster in areas near Nanda Devi. The statement assumes significance as reports have resurfaced — some as recent as last month — suggesting the SNAP-19-C device of Oct 1965 could cause radiation. The top-secret mission to install the portable nuclear generator was a joint operation of India’s Intelligence Bureau and the US spy agency CIA.Kakodkar asserted the device was “very strong and, above all, corrosion-free”. “So, as per my understanding, there was an extremely slim chance of it getting breached. I know that the integrity of the nuclear capsule was very good so there was no cause for alarm.”The former Indian nuclear chief explained the deployment further, saying “there was a need for power supply for the mission and nuclear power was the answer”.Led by well-known Indian mountaineer MS Kohli, the mission was essentially a response to a nuclear test Beijing had carried out on Oct 16, 1964, at Lop Nor in China’s Xinjiang region.The challenging project was conceived at a cocktail party at National Geographic Society’s office in Washington DC during a conversation between General Curtis Le May, former head of the US Air Force, and eminent American mountaineer Barry Bishop.The story was first broken in US magazine Outside in April 1978 by an investigative reporter, Howard Kohn. It was titled “The Nanda Devi Caper”. India came to know about the super-secret operation when former PM Morarji Desai made a disclosure about it in Parliament on April 17, 1978.Recently, the Uttarakhand tourism ministry expressed fears that the lost device could prove an environmental hazard and requested PM Narendra Modi to take up the issue with US officials.BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has also brought up the matter, wondering on social media whether the device “was causing environmental havoc”. A former RAW official, RK Yadav, had expressed similar fears, publishing a book on the subject in 2019 called Nuclear Bomb In Ganga.End of ArticleFollow Us On Social MediaVideosShankh Air Founder Speaks Out As Airline Eyes March Launch, Targets Intl Flights By 2029’Their Islamist Ideas…’: Ex-Bangladesh Minister Hits Out Over Attacks on Hindus And Christians’Very Petty & Shameful’: Shashi Tharoor On Row Over KKR Selecting Bangladeshi Player In IPLINLD President Calls For Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal Type Uprising In India Politics, Triggers RowBJP Claims Rahul Gandhi Ties To ‘Anti-India’ Panel Over US Lawmakers’ Umar Khalid LetterNot All Are Illiterate: Rajnath Singh Cites Red Fort Blast, Flags Educated, White Collar Terrorists’Arunachal Pradesh Is And Will Always Be…’ Jaishankar Warns China, Blasts Harassment Of IndiansBullet Train Gets August 15, 2027 India Launch Date, Minister Shares Details On Tunnel BreakthroughCleanest City Hit By Water Contamination As Lab Links Indore Diarrhoea Outbreak To Pipeline LeakUS Lawmaker Raja Krishnamoorthi Condemns Violence Against Hindus In Bangladesh Urges Global Action Up123Photostories7 foods to combine with sweet potato for a wholesome breakfastOlder people who live happily, do these 10 things in their 30 and 40s8 winter pickles to add warmth and taste to your mealsLessons from centenarians: What the world’s longest-living people eat‘Shark Tank India Season 5’: FULL LIST of judges, their net worth, and the brands they ownKylie Jenner-Timothée Chalamet to complete 3 years of dating in 2026: 3 relationship lessons to learn from themHow to make Dhaba-style Dal Makhani at homeAttract True Love During the January 2026 Full Moon; According To Birth Number10 oldest trees in the world that are still living and where can they be foundBest mushroom varieties for vitamin D and how to cook them123Hot PicksPremarital Test OmanVande Bharat Sleeper TrainJanuary Bank holidayGold rate todayIncome Tax RefundBahrain Golden Visa 2025Bank Holidays DecemberTop TrendingJustin Thomas Net WorthWWE Star Nikki BellaCardi BCeeDee Lamb Luxury Car CollectionStefon DiggsCaitlin ClarkTom BradyMicah Parsons vs CeeDee Lamb Net WorthNHL Injury UpdateVanessa Bryant


Nanda Devi espionage case: No radiation fears from 1965 nuke device lost in Himalayas, says Kakodkar
AEC chairman Anil Kakodkar (File photo)

NEW DELHI: Former Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman Anil Kakodkar has allayed fears that a nuclear device, lost in an avalanche over 60 years ago after a failed attempt to place it near Nanda Devi peak in the Himalayas as part of a mission to monitor Chinese nuke tests, could cause radiation in Uttarakhand and the Ganga.“Absolutely nil,’’ Kakodkar told TOI on Friday when asked specifically if there was a chance of the lost device later causing an environmental disaster in areas near Nanda Devi. The statement assumes significance as reports have resurfaced — some as recent as last month — suggesting the SNAP-19-C device of Oct 1965 could cause radiation. The top-secret mission to install the portable nuclear generator was a joint operation of India’s Intelligence Bureau and the US spy agency CIA.Kakodkar asserted the device was “very strong and, above all, corrosion-free”. “So, as per my understanding, there was an extremely slim chance of it getting breached. I know that the integrity of the nuclear capsule was very good so there was no cause for alarm.”The former Indian nuclear chief explained the deployment further, saying “there was a need for power supply for the mission and nuclear power was the answer”.Led by well-known Indian mountaineer MS Kohli, the mission was essentially a response to a nuclear test Beijing had carried out on Oct 16, 1964, at Lop Nor in China’s Xinjiang region.The challenging project was conceived at a cocktail party at National Geographic Society’s office in Washington DC during a conversation between General Curtis Le May, former head of the US Air Force, and eminent American mountaineer Barry Bishop.The story was first broken in US magazine Outside in April 1978 by an investigative reporter, Howard Kohn. It was titled “The Nanda Devi Caper”. India came to know about the super-secret operation when former PM Morarji Desai made a disclosure about it in Parliament on April 17, 1978.Recently, the Uttarakhand tourism ministry expressed fears that the lost device could prove an environmental hazard and requested PM Narendra Modi to take up the issue with US officials.BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has also brought up the matter, wondering on social media whether the device “was causing environmental havoc”. A former RAW official, RK Yadav, had expressed similar fears, publishing a book on the subject in 2019 called Nuclear Bomb In Ganga.



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