ABSTRACT
Foreign satellites may not have picked up any signs of preparations for underground nuclear tests, but something big was expected by nearby residents as helicopters started flying around the range again, and truck-loads of concrete, stone, and even onions and potatoes were taken to the site. Disagreements may be rife within any community, which may split, form new ones and intersect with others. Any attempt to still the picture need accommodate the fact that an effective community is a provisional unit that may well unravel and shape-shift in unexpected ways. The wide network of nuclear scientists includes those that work at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, the Department of Atomic Energy, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research, and the part-private companies, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and Indian Rare Earths Limited based in Mumbai, with branches across the country.
