The Smiling Face Behind Smiling Buddha

A man of courage and mettle, Dr Homi Nussarwanji Sethna, always took every challenge in his stride.

His calmness was his strength; Image Source: Indusladies

Homi Nusserwanji Sethna, a scientist, and engineer, but above all, a true patriot. He is best remembered for his notable role in the successful testing of a nuclear bomb at Pokhran in 1976, making India the 6th official nuclear power, and only the 1st apart from the 5 permanent nations at the United Nations.

Having completed his schooling at St.Xavier’s High School, Fort, Bombay, he studied Chemical Engineering at the University Department of Chemical Technology, Bombay, before he went to the University of Michigan for his MSE. He returned to India in 1949 inspired by the call of Dr. Homi J. Bhabha for Indian scientists to return to their motherland

His involvement in the foundations of India’s nuclear programme began with an unexpected meeting with “Father of the Indian Nuclear Programme” Homi J.Bhabha himself at a swimming pool of the Wellington Club in Mumbai. His conversation with Bhabha impressed the latter so much that he invited the young man to his office the next day. After a brief interview, Sethna was offered the job to head the Indian Rare Earths at Aluva, Kerala. The task was to separate rare piles of earth from monazite which marked the beginning of the exploitation of nuclear material in India.

Sethna proved himself to be an asset to the Indian team of scientists as a pillar of its nascent nuclear project. He headed the development of the Canada India Research US (CIRUS) Reactor in the 1950s. The CIRUS Reactor was developed with 50% aid from Canada.

Ten years later, Sethna was appointed as the Chief Scientific Officer of the Atomic Energy Establishment at Trombay, now known as BARC or Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. Subsequently, he was promoted to the post of Director at BARC in 1966.

At BARC, Dr. Sethna spearheaded the reprocessing technology and played a pioneering role in the designing and setting up of the first plutonium separation plant in India. The plutonium, from this plant created in 1964, was instrumental in the nuclear device that was tested in Pokhran.

It was Dr. Sethna who called Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India and gave her the prodigious piece of news from the site of the experiment, he told her, “the Buddha has smiled.”

At that time Sethna was working as the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. The scientists at the forefront of the nuclear test at Pokhran were awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award in India.

The successful event at Pokhran was however condemned the world over but India was very clear that the experimentation with nuclear technology would only and only be for peaceful purposes. In fact, India was one of the very first countries to enlist it in the Atomic Energy Act.

Consequently, the US imposed sanctions on India and withdrew on its commitment to supply enriched uranium for the American-built reactor at Tarapur, Maharashtra. Dr. Sethna stepped in and developed the mixed oxide (MOX) fuel as an alternative to the enriched uranium to feed the reactor. But to their luck, France provided them with the enriched uranium that the USA had promised initially.

His opinions on matters were as strong as his proficiency with work. He staunchly opposed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty for its unequal character. At an interview, he said that the essence of NPT was “you do what I tell you to do. But at the same time, I will not do what I tell you to do.”

His contributions were decorated with numerous awards including the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, and the University of Michigan Sesquicentennial Award.

Even after retirement, and amidst deteriorating health, he kept himself busy working for as long as 12 hours a day. We are abundantly thankful for his immense gifts to the world of science and for putting India on the map of Nuclear powers.