India can simulate N-tests on supercomputers: Expert

PUNE, May 30: India now possesses the technology to make supercomputers which can simulate nuclear tests without carrying out any more under...

PUNE, May 30: India now possesses the technology to make supercomputers which can simulate nuclear tests without carrying out any more underground tests, said the chief architect of India8217;s Param 100008242; supercomputer, Dr Vijay Bhatkar.

Dr Bhatkar, the founder executive director of Centre for Development of Advance Computing C-DAC, which built the Param supercomputer, said if the international community resists India8217;a attempt to carry out further underground tests then India can make use of supercomputers by using the critical data collected from the five nuclear tests which it carried out on May 11 and 13. Bhatkar said the C-DAC, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and the Applied Numerical Research and Analysis Group ANURAG of DRDO have the capacity to build supercomputers which can carry out mission critical applications.

8220;We do not have to depend upon any foreign country like Japan or the USA to supply us the critical components which are needed for such computers. India is now capable of buildingsuch computers from the commodity components which are available aplenty in India,8221; he said.

He said the US was preventing other countries from carrying out nuclear tests and asking them to carry out computer simulation of the tests in their USA8217;s computers. 8220;But there are not many takers for this proposal as it is always a danger that the Americans could get access to the defence secrets of the country which uses their computers,8221; he said. Dr Bhatkar said in order to promote Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty CTBT, the USA had launched the Advance Super Computing Initiative ASCI. Projects are initiated under it to build teraflop range which can simulate nuclear tests and carry out stockpile simulation of nuclear weapons without carrying out physical tests.

The USA has banned the export of all high performance super computers whose computing power exceeds 200 mega theoretical operations per second MTOPS and specific restriction exists for export to India.

But India8217;s super computer Param 10000 iscapable of performing 100,000,000,000 mathematical operations per second 100 giga-flops peak. This computer has placed India among the league of nations possessing the most powerful machine of its kind, he said.

Asked whether the Param 10000 computers would be used to carry out simulation of nuclear tests, Bhatkar said, 8220;The Param computers of C-dac is a computer which is built for general purpose like scientific and industrial research. Since it is connected with Internet, it cannot be used for carrying out simulations of nuclear tests as the vital secrets and critical data can reach in wrong hands.8221;

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8220;But since we have the expertise, it is not difficult now to make special computers to carry out simulations of nuclear tests,8221; he added.