Operation Nanda Devi (also known as the Nanda Devi Plutonium Mission) was a joint covert operation between the CIA and India's Intelligence Bureau (IB) executed in 1965, exactly a year after China had conducted it's maiden nuclear test at Lop Nur, located in China's Xinjiang province. The mission aimed to install a nuclear-powered surveillance device on the summit of Nanda Devi, India's second-highest peak, which directly overlooked Lop Nur, to monitor Chinese nuclear and missile tests.
Key Mission Details
- Objective: To intercept telemetry signals from China's Lop Nur nuclear test site.
- Equipment: A SNAP-19C radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) fueled by several kilograms of plutonium-238.
- Team Leaders: Led by legendary Indian mountaineer Captain M. S. Kohli, with a joint team of American and Indian climbers.
The mission faced a severe blizzard in October 1965 near the summit at Camp IV. To save the team, Captain Kohli ordered a retreat and instructed that the heavy generator be secured in a rock crevice. When the team returned in May 1966 to complete the installation, the device and its plutonium capsules had vanished, likely swept away by an avalanche or buried deep within the glacier.
Environmental and Historical Legacy
- Ongoing Risk: Despite multiple search missions, the device remains missing as of 2025. Concerns persist that the plutonium could eventually contaminate the headwaters of the Ganges River as glaciers melt.
- Public Exposure: The mission was kept secret until 1978, when it was revealed by Outside magazine, forcing Prime Minister Morarji Desai to acknowledge it in Parliament.
- Sanctuary Closure: The incident contributed to the closure of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary to mountaineers for decades starting in 1983. As of July 2025, discussions regarding reopening the peak under strict eco-sensitive guidelines were ongoing.
- Success elsewhere: Following the Nanda Devi failure, a similar device was successfully installed on the nearby Nanda Kot peak in 1967 and later retrieved safely.
Radioactive Contamination Fears at Nanda Devi: Concerns still prevail that a potential glacial movement could damage the capsules, which still has 28 years to go before it reaches its half life, thereby, potentially contaminating rivers, including the Ganges, that flow from Himalayan glaciers which could potentially impact almost 600 million people living across India who are dependant on the Ganges for drinking water.
The risk from the lost Nanda Devi RTG (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator) involves potential plutonium contamination of the Ganges headwaters if its containment fails, a scenario worsened by melting glaciers, though an intact unit poses low risk and the plutonium isotope (Pu-238) has a long half-life (88 years). While some worry about widespread health issues, scientists suggest dilution in the river could mitigate widespread impact, but a damaged unit could release toxic plutonium, causing localized cancer risks, with concerns persisting due to climate change exposing the device...
