Pakistan's building a nuke reactor, can fuel 50 bombs

NEW DELHI: Even as the eyes of the world are fixed on the nuclear ambitions of Iran’s hard-line regime, worrying new evidence suggests that Pakistan, with its proven record of proliferation, is intent on extending its nuclear ambitions.

According to a report in The Washington Post, Pakistan is building a reactor that could produce enough plutonium for 40 to 50 nuclear weapons. The advancing Pakistani nuclear weapons programme and its old fondness for using cross-border terrorism as statecraft are worrying for India.

Although Pakistan has been cutting weapons deals with several rogue regimes for more than a decade, the West, for obvious political reasons, has been reticent to brand the country as a ‘worst proliferator’. According to an analysis by nuclear experts at the Washington-based Institute for Science, satellite photos show what appears to be the construction site for a larger nuclear reactor adjacent to Pakistan’s only plutonium production reactor.

The analysts concluded that the diameter of the structure’s metal shell suggests a very large reactor ”operating in excess of 1,000 megawatts thermal.” “Such a reactor could produce over 200 kg of weapon-grade plutonium per year, assuming it operates at full power a modest 220 days per year,” the newspaper said, quoting technical assessments.

“At four to five kilograms of plutonium per weapon, this stock would allow the production of over 40 to 50 nuclear weapons a year,” the newspaper added. Pakistan is currently capable of producing about 10 kilograms of plutonium a year, enough for about two warheads. Construction of the new reactor began sometime in ’00.

In April ‘06, the roof of the structure was still incomplete, allowing an unobstructed view of the reactor’s features. “South Asia may be heading for a nuclear arms race that could lead to arsenals growing into the hundreds of nuclear weapons, or at minimum, vastly expanded stockpiles of military fissile material,” the institute’s David Albright and Paul Brannan concluded in the technical assessment.

The article said a copy of the assessment was provided to The Washington Post. The paper reported that a Europe-based diplomat and nuclear expert and a US-based expert, who reviewed the commercially available satellite images and supporting data, concurred fully with the institute’s estimates.

A few years ago, a research paper in Jane’s Intelligence Review, which compared the relative strengths and weaknesses of the nuclear programmes of India and Pakistan had said that Islamabad had edged past India in the nuclear arms race.

It said that unlike India whose nuclear programme was bogged down due to internal politics, international pressures and its own unique security concerns, Pakistan’s programme has been flourishing unfettered under the direct control and command of the military.

These latest revelations about Pakistan’s advancing nuclear weapons programme are likely to prove a setback for the peacemaking camps. They have been arguing for the continuation of the peace process even in the face of the brutal attacks on India.