Nuclear Chronology of Pakistan

[Neo]

1994

1 January 1994
Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is angered by statements made by Federal Minister for Special Education- Sher Afghan Khan Niazi and Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Chairman Ashfaq Ahmed concerning the state of the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant, and consequently issues a directive effectively banning public statements on nuclear power plants. Back in December 1993, Afghan Khan Niazi reportedly told Bhutto that the 300-MW Chashma nuclear power plant, which is being built with Chinese assistance, could be unsafe because of the way in which its monitoring system is being developed.
--"Bhutto Bans Public Statements On Nuclear Power Plants," The Muslim (Islamabad), 2 January 1994, Pg. 2; JPRS-TND-94-003, (FBIS), 31 January 1994, Pg. 14; "Minister Reportedly Warns of 'Unsafe' Nuclear Project," Jang (Rawalpindi), 29 December 1993, Pp. 1,5; JPRS-TND-94-003,(FBIS), 31 January 1994, Pg. 15; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 31 January 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

13 January 1994
A group of Canadian engineers representing the Candu Owners Group recently conduct an inspection of Pakistan's 137-MW Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP) and find no evidence of hydride corrosion of the fuel channel walls, a common problem found in Canadian-produced Candu reactors after twenty years of service. The inspection team works under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as part of the Safe Operation of KANUPP (SOK) program developed in 1989.
--"Rigid Garter Springs May Have Saved Kanupp From Tube Fracture," Nucleonics Week, 13 January 1994, Pg. 6; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 13 January 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

17 January 1994
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Chairman, Ishfaq Ahmad says that Pakistan will soon be able to build its own nuclear power plants, saying "in fact, a successful experiment in this regard has already been made." He stresses Pakistan's commitment to pursue its nuclear program, which he characterizes as "totally peaceful" and directed only towards "the social uplift of the people." Ahmad adds that the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) has been in charge of the nuclear research and development program, which has been underway for 25 years. At KANUPP, Ahmad says, Pakistani scientists have "prepared spare parts and a full-fledged computer program." In addition, he says that Pakistan's 300 MW Chashma nuclear power plant, being built with the aid of China, is expected to become operational by 1996.
--"Country To Manufacture Nuclear power Reactors 'Soon,'" The News (Islamabad), 19 January 1994, Pg. 11; JPRS-TND-94-005, (FBIS), 25 February 1994; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 25 February 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

31 January 1994
A five-member delegation from the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA), led by acting director Tom Graham, will visit Pakistan (Feb. 1-3, 1994), to participate in discussions with Pakistani officials regarding the Pakistani nuclear program. A US Embassy spokesman says that the ACDA team, which is expected to call on Pakistan to join the Conference on Disarmament, may bring up the question of Pakistan joining the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
--"U.S. Team Coming For Talks On Nuclear, Other Issues," UPI, 31 January 1994; Executive News Service, 31 January 1994; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 31 January 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

January 1994
Pakistan establishes a nuclear research institute at the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH), designed to study nuclear steam supply systems. The new institute will also study the work done at other establishments run by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and will give advice on research and development and design engineering and safety enhancement at Pakistan's nuclear power plants.
--"PAEC Sets Up Nuclear Power Institute," Dawn (Karachi), 20 January 1994, Pg. 1; JPRS-TND-94-005, (FBIS), 25 February 1994, Pg. 22; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 25 February 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

20 February 1994
The Prime Minister's special assistant on economic affairs, Shahid Hasan, states that Pakistan is considering "at the highest level," a French offer to revive an agreement signed during the previous Pakistan People's Party government, whereby France would supply Pakistan with a nuclear power plant.
--"France Offers To Revive Nuclear Power Plant Agreement With Pakistan," Radio Pakistan Network (Islamabad), 21 February 1994; JPRS-TND-94-006, (FBIS), 16 March 1994, Pg. 60; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 16 March 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

29 March 1994
US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and Pakistan's Ambassador in Washington D.C., Maleeha Lodhi, discuss the possibility of convening an international conference on nuclear nonproliferation in South Asia. The proposed conference would include all permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as Japan and Canada. Pakistan is also seeking a one-time waiver of the Pressler Amendment to permit the delivery of 40 F-16 aircraft from the United States. In exchange for the waiver, Pakistan would allow international inspections of its nuclear facilities only if India allows inspections as well.
--"Pakistan Receives U.S. Proposal For Non-proliferation," UPI, 31 March 1994; Executive News Service, 31 March 1994; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 31 March 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

9 April 1994
US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott states that talks with Pakistani diplomats concerning Pakistan's nuclear program have been good but that more work remained to be done. Talbott is hoping to convince Pakistan to allow a verifiable cap of its nuclear program in exchange for a one-time waiver of the Pressler Amendment, which would allow the US to deliver 38 F-16 aircraft. On a related note, Talbott visits Pakistan shortly after Prime Minister Bhutto announced, "if we are unilaterally pressed for the capping, it will be discriminatory and Pakistan will not agree to it."
--"Talbott Cites 'Good' Talks In Pakistan," Washington Times, 10 April 1994, Pg. A14; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 10 April 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

20 April 1994
The China Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) begins training 60 Pakistani engineers and technicians in China, in the areas of nuclear power plant (NPP) operation and maintenance, as agreed to in the contract under which it provided the 300 MW Chashma NPP to Pakistan. At the conclusion of the course (training) at the post-graduate school, the trainees will receive hands-on instruction at China's Qinshan plant, whose design is being used in the construction of the Chashma plant.
--"Beijing Trains Pakistani Nuclear Power Plant Operators," Xinhua (Beijing), 20 April 1994; JPRS-TND-94-011, (FBIS), 16 May 1994, Pg. 49; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 16 May 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

April 1994
During his visit to Pakistan, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Nategh Noori denies Western media reports that he held talks with Pakistani officials concerning cooperation between Iran and Pakistan in the field of nuclear technology. Some US officials claim that Iran is trying to purchase weapons technology from Pakistan.
--"Anti-Muslim Bias Claimed," Nucleonics Week, 21 April 1994, Pp. 14-15; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 21 April 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

5 May 1994
Former Pakistani Army Chief General, Mirza Aslam Beg, reveals that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is controlled by the National Nuclear Command Authority (NNCA). Beg alleges that the NNCA, created in the 1970's, is operated by the Joint Operations Centre out of the General Headquarters of the army in Rawalpindi and is led by the "chief executive." Also according to Beg, all NNCA decisions are made by the Nuclear Command Committee, composed of the prime minister, the president, the army chief, and three other unspecified individuals.

Beg claims that "the NNCA determines the state of readiness which has to be maintained at all times...and lays down in great detail the policy of how the various components will be placed, protected and safeguarded." Beg also describes the potential delivery systems for Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, when he says that "we already have the F-16's, Mirages and the M11's which we are now getting from China...Through the missile program...we should have a delivery system with a very effective, accurate, guiding system provided on the missiles."
--"Bare All And Be Damned: Ex-army Chief Reveals Nuclear Secrets," Far Eastern Economic Review, 5 May 1994, Pg. 23; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 5 May 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

15 May 1994
Pakistani Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Saeed M. Khan, tells student-officers of the Pakistan Navy Staff College that the Indian Navy is working on a program to develop a nuclear propulsion capability.
--"Pakistan's Navy Chief Says Indian Naval Missile Program 'Ominous,'" The Nation (Islamabad), 16 May 1994, Pp. 1,4; JPRS-TND-94-012, (FBIS), 7 June 1994, Pp. 15; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 7 June 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

18 May 1994
Pakistani Foreign Minister Sardar Assef Ali says that Pakistan would be willing to permit US inspections of its nuclear facilities. Ali says, "Pakistan is ready to consider any US proposal for non-intrusive means to verify that our nuclear program is not weapons oriented."
"Pakistanis Offer Limited Checks On Atom Plant," Daily Telegraph, 24 May 1994; "Pakistan To Allow Nuclear Inspection," UPI, 18 May 1994; Executive News Service, 18 May 1994; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 24 May 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

May 1994
Pakistan's opposition parties urge Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to resign after Foreign Minister Sardar Assaf announced that Pakistan may allow the US to conduct non-intrusive inspections of Pakistan's nuclear facilities. The Foreign Office later states that Pakistan will only accept such a proposal if the inspections would apply to India as well.
--"Pakistan In Nuclear Controversy," UPI, 20 May 1994; Executive News Service, 20 May 1994; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 20 May 1994, http://www/nti.org/db/nuclear.

 

[Neo]

14 June 1994
Pakistani Foreign Minister Sardar Aseff states that Pakistan "could not give up the nuclear weapons option" until its disputes with India over Kashmir are resolved.
--"Pakistan Retains Nuclear Option," UPI, 14 June 1994; Executive News Service, 14 June 1994; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 14 June 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

23 June 1994
At an annual conference of scientists held in Nathiagali, Pakistan, Pakistani President Farooq Leghari says that Pakistan would like to attract private investment for building nuclear power plants so that it can confront the power shortage in the country. Farooq states that all new nuclear power plants would be placed under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards and that he hopes that the US and other countries (advanced in nuclear technology), would reevaluate Pakistan's nuclear program and give it "credit for the tremendous self-restraint" that it has shown and remove the restrictions currently in place.
--"Pakistan Seeks Investment In Nuclear Power," UPI, 23 June 1994; Executive News Service, 23 June 1994; "President Views Political Scene, Nuclear Programs, Missiles," Radio Pakistan Network (Islamabad), 23 June 1994; JPRS-TND-94-014, (FBIS), 13 July 1994, Pp. 41-42; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 23 June 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

30 June 1994
During a visit to Dublin, Ireland, Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto states that India's deployment of the Prithvi missile system, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, could instigate an arms race in South Asia. Bhutto also says that Pakistan has shown "tremendous restraint" and has yet to detonate a nuclear device despite India's nuclear test and recent test- firing of its missile system.
--"Bhutto In Missile Warning," Financial Times, 1 July 1994; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 1 July 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

July 1994
It is reported that the construction of the Pakistani Chashma Nuclear Power Plant (Chasnupp) is being aided by international experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and China. In fact, safety experts from the IAEA have inspected Chasnupp's design. As of this date (July 1994), a group of 61 Pakistani engineers and scientists are undergoing formal training in China in the operation and maintenance of a nuclear plant.

It is believed that the technology and know-how obtained from these joint operations will spill over into areas other than nuclear technology. It is hoped that local participation in the design and construction will contribute to the knowledge and experience of scientists and technicians involved in the future creation of nuclear power plants.
--"CHASNUPP: One Year After First Concrete Pouring," PakAtom, July 1994-August 1994; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 1 July 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

July 1994
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Asif Ahmad Ali, signs a joint memorandum on mutual understanding and cooperation with Ukraine. Ali declines to comment on Ukraine's non-participatory status in regards to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). He also says that Pakistan is in favor of nonproliferation in Asia, but due to security issues, it (Pakistan) "cannot take such obligations unilaterally."
--"Views Nuclear Nonproliferation Issue," UNIAR (Kiev), 7 July 1994; FBIS-SOV-94-131, 8 July 1994, Pg. 41; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 8 July 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

3 August 1994
At a press briefing in New Delhi, a German official of the External Affairs Ministry says that the German government has taken action against German firms covertly supplying nuclear technology to Pakistan and has deported two Pakistani diplomats who were involved in the transactions.
--"Pakistan: Bonn Halts N-tech Supply," Asain Recorder, 27 August 1994-2 September 1994, Pp. 24201-24202; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 27 August 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

8 August 1994
China is currently constructing the Chashma nuclear power plant in Pakistan under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. It is likely that Pakistan will order a second 300 MWe plant from China. Since Pakistan is not a signatory to the NPT, it cannot obtain nuclear technology from countries other than China.
--"Pakistan Looks Likely To Order A Second 300 MWe Nuclear Power Plant From China," Power in Asia, 8 August 1994, Pg. 10; Uranium Institute News Briefing, 3-9 August 1994, Pg. 2; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 3 August 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

August 1994
US Intelligence agencies discover that Pakistan is going forward on a deal to purchase M-11 missiles from China. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif recently stated that Pakistan possesses a nuclear bomb. This statement has increased concern among proliferation experts that Pakistan will employ the Chinese missiles (M-11) for the delivery of nuclear warheads.
--"Pakistan-China Deal For Missiles Exposed: Nuclear Ambitions Spur U.S. Concern," Washington Times, 7 September 1994, Pp. A1, A18; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 7 September 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

August 1994
Dr. Beatrice Heuser, professor of European security and nuclear strategy at King's College in London, describes Pakistan's attempt to obtain more plutonium (apparently from Russia) as "worrying."
--"Worst Scenarion Links Plutonium To Algeria, Iran," Press Association (London), 18 August 1994; JPRS-TND-94-017, (FBIS), 8 September 1994, Pp. 46-47; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 8 September 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

15 September 1994
Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto travels to Madrid, Spain to meet with Spanish President Felipe Gonzales. During her meeting, the prime minister says that Pakistan is committed to nuclear nonproliferation and is seeking a regional ban on nuclear weapons in South Asia, even though it has the necessary materials and knowledge for constructing a nuclear weapon.
--"Pakistan's Bhutto Seeks Regional Nuclear Arms Ban," Reuters, 15 September 1994; Executive News Service, 15 September 1994; "Gonzales' Aides Advise Him Not To Pressure Bhutto Into Signing The NPT," El Pais, 14 September 1994; "Solana Advises Pakistan To Sign The Treaty That Prohibits Nuclear Arms," El Pais, 15 September 1994; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 15 September 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

24 September 1994
US Secretary of Energy, Hazel O'Leary, states that the US and Pakistan are considering to enter a cooperation agreement for nuclear power safety. O'Leary says that she has spoken with the Chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Ishfaq Ahmad, about the possibility of cooperating in regards to nuclear safety and added that she was "open to continue the discussions."

Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) officials state that preliminary results of a fuel channel integrity assessment of the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant's (KANUPP) 137 mw reactor, carried out by the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., were "very positive and encouraging."
--"O'Leary Says U.S. Would Work With Pakistan On Nuclear Safety," Nucleonics Week, 29 September 1994, Pp. 6-7; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 29 September 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

2 November 1994
Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto arrives in France for an official three-day visit, during which she will address the possible sale of a French nuclear power plant. Tomorrow (November 3), Bhutto and French officials are expected to discuss reviving a 1984 contract for France to supply Pakistan with a 900 MW nuclear reactor. Bhutto states that France and Pakistan are engaged in "high-level" negotiations concerning the delivery of the reactor and that she is "optimistic" that the talks will be successful.
--"Pakistan PM Arrives In France," UPI, 2 November 1994; Executive News Service, 2 November 1994; "France/Pakistan: Reactor Discussion," Nucleonics Week, 3 November 1994, Pg. 17; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 2 November 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

5 November 1994
Pakistani President Farooq Leghari expresses his nation's desire to acquire technology from China to build a nuclear power plant (at the end of his trip to China).
--"Leghari Ends PRC Visit, Discusses Nuclear Cooperation," Voice of Russia World Service (Moscow), 5 November 1994; FBIS-SOV-94-234, 5 November 1994; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 5 November 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

26 November 1994
Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto gives an interview, in which she says that the refusal of the US to deliver F-16 jets, which Pakistan has paid for, is strengthening the position of hardliners who want Pakistan to develop nuclear weapons. Bhutto says that her country would like recognition for refraining from detonating a nuclear device or exporting nuclear technology, despite the October 1990 cut-off in US military assistance.
--"Bhutto Says U.S. Moves Promote Nuclear Spread," Reuters, 26 November 1994; Executive News Service, 26 November 1994; "Pakistan's Bhutto Asks US For Planes Or Money Back," Reuters, 17 November 1994; Executive News Service, 17 November 1994; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database, 26 November 1994, Nuclear and Missile Developments.

 

[Neo]

1995-2000

March 1995
In early March 1995, head of the Saudi secret services Prince Turki ibn Faycal held talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Faycal's purpose was to convince Pakistan to halt contacts with Iran on military and nuclear activities.
--Pakistan Cracks Down On Al-Ansar, 30 March 1995; Intelligence Newsletter, 30 March 1995, p. 7.

April 1995
In early April 1995, at the opening ceremony of Pakistan's National Center for Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) and the Pakistan Welding Institute, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Chairman Ishfaq Ahmad Khan commented that Pakistan's nuclear goals include the achievement of self-reliance in the construction of nuclear power plants. The ceremony was led by Minister for Industries and Production Mohammed Asghar. Khan said the centers would operate on a commercial basis. PAEC speaker Pervaiz Butt revealed that Pakistan plans to have a nuclear power generating capacity of 2,000 MW by the year 2003, and 8,000 MW by 2010. Butt conceded that some foreign assistance would be required before Pakistan can begin manufacturing its own nuclear reactors. Pakistan has established a zircalloy tube plant and other specialized centers and institutes to develop nuclear technology, including "an Institute for Nuclear Power Centre for Nuclear Instrumentation & Computer Control." NDT Center Director Dr. Khalid Ibrahim said the Welding Institute, which provides training for work on various nuclear plant components, has already certified 250 welders.
--"Officials Say Pakistan Developing Nuclear Manufacturing Capability," 1 June 1995, Nucleonics Week, 1 June 1995, p. 15, by Shahid-ur-Rehman Khan.

4 April 1995
On 4 April 1995, U.S. President Bill Clinton called for modification of the Pressler Amendment. Without hinting at the extent of the changes he envisions, Clinton said that a revised law would make the U.S. "a stronger force for peace and reconciliation" in South Asia. The Chairman of a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee, Hank Brown, said although he would not support the complete repeal of the Pressler Amendment, he would like to see some modification. In its current form, the Pressler Amendment has a negative effect on a major U.S.-Pakistan conventional arms deal. U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) Director John Holum agreed with Clinton, saying that although the Pressler Amendment had served U.S. nonproliferation goals in the past, a change would allow U.S. South Asian policy "more flexibility."

Clinton's statement came one day before the arrival in Washington of Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who is expected to argue that the law is unfair because it is country-specific and ineffective since it forces Pakistan to rely heavily on its nuclear deterrent. There had been some earlier indications that the Clinton Administration was leaning toward proposing a modification of the Pressler law. The first sign was on 7 March 1995 when Undersecretary of Commerce Jeffrey Garten testified before a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee and said the Pressler Amendment handicaps U.S. business interests in Pakistan. On 9 March 1995, Assistant Secretary of Defense Joseph Nye testified to the same subcommittee that "fine tuning" of the Pressler Amendment was needed.
--Clinton Backs Review Of Pakistan Policy, 4 April 1995; Executive News Service, 4 April 1995; Reuters, 4 April 1995, by Carol Giacomo. Marcus Brauchli, Wall Street Journal, 5 April 1995. p. A1, "US Policies Toward Pakistan..." Reuters, 7 March 1995, "US Officials See Law As Bar To Trade With Pakistan." R. Jeffrey Smith, Washington Post, 10 March 1995, p. A15, "Pakistan Arms Aid Supported."

23 May 1995
In a 23 May 1995 debate on a pending foreign aid bill, the U.S. Senate's Foreign Relations Committee voted 15 to 1 to modify the Pressler Amendment and ease restrictions on military aid to Pakistan. The amendment to the foreign aid bill, sponsored by Senator Hank Brown, retains the ban on arms transfers to Pakistan, but a spokesman for Pakistan's Foreign Office hailed the move as a success for Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's personal diplomacy, and as a step toward the eventual repeal of the Pressler law. In a 8 May 1995 question hour, India's Foreign Affairs Minister R.L. Bhatia had warned that any transfer of sophisticated weapons systems to Pakistan under less restrictive U.S. legislation would force India to take counter-measures. The Pakistani media's reaction to the Foreign Relations Committee's decision was guarded, with one major daily reporting only "partial vindication" and warning that "U.S... pressure on the nuclear program is... likely to continue unabated".
--Easing Pakistan Curbs, 24 May 1995, New York Times, 24 May 1995, p. A3. Islamabad Radio Pakistan Network, 25 May 1995; in FBIS-NES-95-101, 25 May 1995, "Spokesman Welcomes Development." Delhi All India Radio Network, 8 May 1995; in JPRS-TAC-95-013-L, 8 May 1995, "Minister Speaks In Parliament On NPT, Pressler Amendment." The Nation (Islamabad), 25 March 1995, p. 6; in FBIS-NES-95-101, 25 May 1995, "Daily Views 'Partial Vindication.'"

14 June 1995
On 14 June 1995, sources report that construction of the Chashma nuclear reactor that China has exported to Pakistan is underway and should be finished on schedule. Pakistan has already paid seven of 15 payments for the reactor. The plant is modeled after China's new indigenously constructed 300 MW Qinshan nuclear plant. The 300-MW Chashma is located 280km from Islamabad. The primary contractor in this project is the China Zhongyuan Foreign Engineering Corporation. The secondary contractors are Shanghai Institute of Nuclear Engineering Research and Design; two subsidiaries of the China Zhongyan Nuclear Construction Company, the Ground Construction Company and the Installation Company; the Shanghai Nuclear Equipment Company; and the Qinshan Nuclear Company. The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission's scientific and engineering services directorate, which is carrying out 17 percent of the project's civil works, has manufactured the main coolant piping. There are also plans for Pakistan to make nuclear power plant parts. China has agreed to train 148 Pakistani technicians at Qinshan. On 14 July 1995, the first group of 83 people completed the study program at Qinshan.
--Zhongguo Hegongye Bao [China Nuclear Industry Newspaper], 14 June 1995, p. 1, FBIS-CST-95-011 "Construction of First Chinese-Exported Nuclear Reactor To Pakistan" [2] Zhongguo Hegongye Bao [China Nuclear Industry Newspaper], 21 June 1995, p4; in FBIS-CST-95-011, 21 June 1995, "Construction Site Of Chasma Plant." Nuclear Europe Worldscan, 8 July 1995, pp 69-70, "Pakistan." [ Xinhua (Beijing), 14 July 1995; in FBIS-CHI-95-135, 14 July 1995, "Pakistani Technicians Trained At Nuclear Facility."

1 July 1995
U.S. officials say China is providing assistance in the construction of Pakistan's 40 MW Khusab nuclear reactor. The former head of Pakistan's Atomic Energy Commission, Munir Ahmad Khan, insisted that Pakistan is building the reactor completely on its own. The Khusab reactor is not under IAEA safeguards, which means that any plutonium produced there could legally be used to build atomic weapons, although it would first have to be reprocessed. Pakistan has not "mastered" the process of plutonium extraction, although it received transfers of experimental plutonium processing technology from European companies in the 1970s. In the 1980s, Pakistan built a small plutonium extraction facility called "New Labs."

The Khusab reactor could produce tritium, which Pakistan already attempted to produce by irradiating lithium. In the 1980s, German firms sold Pakistan parts for a tritium purification facility. Later, Pakistan attempted to procure from Germany 30 tons of aluminum tubing, used to "clad lithium for irradiation in a reactor."

In its 1992 Militarily Critical Technology List, the U.S. Defense Department (DOD) described Pakistan's capability to produce a nuclear reactor indigenously as "limited." The report noted that Pakistan would probably require assistance in obtaining or producing key nuclear materials, such as beryllium, boron, carbide, hafnium, zirconium, lithium, graphite, and high-purity bismuth. The report also found Pakistan's nuclear program to be deficient in critical production and testing equipment for nuclear components, including furnaces, multi-stage light gas guns, transient recorders, oscilloscopes, flash X-ray equipment, capacitors, pulse generators, high-speed computers, and sophisticated electronics.
--"Pakistan Needs Help To Make Plutonium And Tritium" Risk Report, July 1995, p. 9.

1 July 1995
Pakistan's Kahuta plant, which started up in the early 1980s, has produced about 170kg highly-enriched uranium (HEU), an amount sufficient to produce 8-12 weapons. The initial stage of Pakistan's nuclear weapons production cycle involves mining uranium ore at Baghalchar and Qubul Khel, and milling the uranium at Dera Ghazi Khan and the Atomic Energy Minerals Center in Lahore. The nuclear plant at Dera Ghazi Khan then purifies and transforms the material into uranium hexafluoride gas (UF6) at an annual rate of 200 MT. More than 1,000 high-speed centrifuges at Kahuta enrich the UF6 to 93 percent, producing about 20kg of HEU per year. Pakistani representatives claim the Kahuta plant has already been re-designed to only produce low-enriched uranium (LEU), used to fuel the Chashma reactor. However, Pakistan also has a pilot-scale centrifuge site in operation in Sihala. Furthermore, some reports indicate another enrichment facility is under construction at Golra, but Kahuta program director A.Q. Khan denies these allegations. Finally, the Pakistani Ministry of Defense and the A.Q. Khan research center finalize the production process by molding HEU into nuclear weapon components.
--"Pakistan's A-Bomb Potential" Risk Report, July 1995, p. 5 [2] Risk Report, July 1995, p. 3, "Nuclear Profile: Pakistan."

20 July 1995
A 20 July 1995 report by the Pakistani Foreign Affairs Committee urged the state nuclear industry to recommence producing weapons-grade uranium (U-235 enriched to 90 percent). Such calls have been made in light of two factors, an imminent fissile material cut-off and the perceived need by Pakistani leaders to stockpile enough highly-enriched uranium (HEU) to "ensure sufficiency." Since a February 1992 announcement by the Pakistani Foreign Secretary that Pakistan had "permanently frozen production of highly enriched uranium and weapons cores," Pakistan has presumably continued to produce low-enriched uranium (LEU); the former Pakistani Army Staff chief has indicated that a limit of 3-5% U-235 was established. Thus, Pakistan presently possesses two uranium stockpiles, one of HEU and another of LEU (which could be enriched to produce HEU). To fully ascertain Pakistan's nuclear capability, it is necessary to approximate the quantity of LEU that the country owns. Assuming that Pakistan has produced only LEU in running the Kahuta reactor at full capacity for four years, Pakistan could have obtained an additional 5-17 MT of LEU. The following are scenarios developed to estimate time frames for the possible enrichment of Pakistan's LEU into HEU: (1) If Pakistan now possesses 130kg of HEU, then it will be possible to double the HEU stockpile in 11-30 weeks; (2) If Pakistan now possesses 200kg of HEU, then it will be possible to double the HEU stockpile in 18-54 weeks.
--"Pakistan's Uranium Stockpile" INESAP-Information Bulletin, October 1995, pp. 8-9, by Zia Mian and Abdul H. Nayyar.

 

[Neo]

6 January 1996
Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said that if India conducts a nuclear test, Pakistan could be forced to "follow suit." According to Bhutto, Pakistan hopes "the day will never arise when we have to use our knowledge to make and detonate a [nuclear] device and export our technology." However, Bhutto believes that a nuclear test by India will "trigger a proliferation race" on the subcontinent. In a related statement, Muslim League Party Spokesman Mushalid Hussain said if India conducts a nuclear test, the Muslim League will demand that Pakistan "examine its options" because of the threat to Pakistan's national security. Former Pakistani Army Chief Aslam Beg added that Pakistan should quicken its nuclear development, but urged restraint in regard to a possible Pakistani nuclear test, saying, "Pakistan should not become a party to such madness". Western diplomats said that an Indian nuclear test would threaten peace in the region by ruining "the delicate ambiguity that each country maintains about its nuclear programme."
--"Bhutto Warns India Against Testing Nuclear Device" Daily Telegraph (London), 6 January 1996, p. 12, by Ahmed Rashid. Reuters, 17 December 1995, by Alistair Lyon; in Executive News Service, 17 December 1995, "Pakistani Press Lashes India Over A-Bomb Report." AFP (Hong Kong), 19 December 1995; in FBIS-NES-95-243, 19 December 1995, "Official Urges Acceleration Of Nuclear Program."

20 January 1996
During 18 January 1996 talks in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto revealed that Pakistan has achieved "parity" with India in its "capacity" to produce nuclear weapons and their "delivery capability." Bhutto said that Pakistan "cannot afford to negate the parity we maintain with India" in the nuclear area. Bhutto's statements represent a departure from Pakistan's previous policy of "nuclear ambivalence."
--"Pakistan Claims Parity With India In Nuclear Domain" Hindu, 20 January 1996, p. 13, by P.S. Suryanarayana.

25 February 1996
Pakistan's political leadership is reportedly considering a nuclear test in reaction to India's planned test. Pakistani nuclear scientists have plans, which include a choice of site, to conduct their own test "in a short time frame." U.S. intelligence officials allegedly told the Washington Post that they have satellite photos of excavation work at a shaft in the Chagai hills that could be used to conduct a nuclear test. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry denied the allegations.

Former Pakistan Army Chief Mirza Aslam Beg said that in the 1980s, the U.S. deliberately ignored a report by attache to the U.S. embassy in Pakistan, Richard Barlow, that Pakistan was gaining a nuclear capability. According to Beg, U.S. embassy officials were "regularly briefed" on the progress of the Pakistani nuclear program.

According to a 4 January 1996 report in the Pakistani newspaper The Muslim, the U.S. alleged that China was assisting Pakistan in building a uranium centrifuge plant at Wah. The Muslim report also cited Pakistani officials as confirming that Pakistan was constructing another enrichment plant in Golra Sharif.
--"Pakistan: Article Views Case For Further Nuclear Tests" Muslim (Islamabad), 25 February 1996, pp. 1,4, FBIS-TAC-96-004, 25 February 1996 by Aroosa Alam. Suzanne Goldenberg, Guardian, 7 March 1996, "Pakistan N-Test 'Ready'." Shahid-Ur-Rehman Khan, Nucleonics Week, 29 February 1996, p. 14, "Pakistan Said Ready To Counter Indian Nuclear Test With Its Own." AP, 8 March 1996; in International Herald Tribune, 8 March 1996, p. 4, "Pakistan's Angry Retort: Officials Denounce Report Of N-Test Moves." R. Jeffrey Smith, Washington Post Service, 7 March 1996; in International Herald Tribune, 7 March 1996, p. 4, "Pakistani A-Test Is Deemed Possible." AP, 7 March 1996; in Daily Telegraph, 7 March 1996, "Pakistan 'Plans Underground Nuclear Blast'."

29 February 1996
On 29 February 1996, a Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman stated that "Pakistan has never acquired any nuclear weapons technology from China." According to the spokesman, China exported nuclear technology for peaceful use to Pakistan, not weapons technology, and this transfer does not violate any international treaties.
--"Pakistan Denies Import Of N-Technology From Beijing" Xinhua (Beijing), 29 February 1996 FBIS-TAC-96-004.

28 March 1996
In March 1996, unnamed Pakistani nuclear officials denied allegations made by the magazine "Power in Asia" that a 50 MW power reactor has been built near Khushab. Khushab was reported to be the first indigenously built reactor in Pakistan. Pakistan also is locally manufacturing some of the components for the 300 MW Chashma reactor.
--"Pakistan: The Reactor That Never Was" NucNet News, 28 March 1996. Ashraf Mumtaz, Dawn (Karachi), 7 March 1996, p. 1; in FBIS-NES-96-048, 7 March 1996, "Pakistan: First Indigenously Developed Nuclear Reactor Completed."

4 August 1996
Mohammed Saleem, an employee at Pakistan's high commission in London, was deported in July 1996 after the UK's Security Service (MI-5) identified him as the head of Pakistan's nuclear procurement network. Saleem was deported for recruiting a network of Pakistani-born scientific students at UK universities to collect sensitive nuclear information. Saleem also sought to procure nuclear-related materials and arrange lines of credit and export licenses for Pakistan's nuclear program. The British Home Office said that "since late 1991, Mohammed Saleem has been conducting covert nuclear procurement activities in Britain." The information and materiel was provided to the A.Q. Khan Research Laboratories in Kahuta. Saleem denied the charges.
--"Pakistan Nuclear Bomb Plot Exposed" Sunday Times (Times Online | News and Views from The Times and Sunday Times), 4 August 1996, by Ciaran Byrne and Tim Kelsey.

 

[Neo]

20 March 1997
In an interview conducted by an unnamed Urdu-language newspaper in Lahore, Pakistan, former Pakistani Army chief Mirza Aslam Beg said Islamabad successfully tested its "atomic bomb capability" using computer simulation. He said Pakistan's next task is to focus on delivery systems for its "nuclear capability." Beg said he has no knowledge that Pakistan has missiles which could carry nuclear warheads. He added that F-16 aircraft could be used for such a task.
--"Ex-Army Head Says Pakistan Bomb Passed Computer Simulation Tests" Nulceonics Week, 20 March 1997, p. 18, by A. Rauf Siddiqi.

27 July 1997
Pakistani foreign minister Gohar Ayub Khan said in an interview to the BBC World Service that Pakistan was ready to sign a treaty with India on non-use of nuclear weapons, "even though it would put Pakistan at a disadvantage." Asked if Pakistan possessed nuclear weapons, Ayub Khan said, "No, we are against nuclear weapons."
--"Pakistan Ready To Sign Treaty Of Non-use OF N-arms With India" The Times of India, 27 July 1997, by S.K. Dhar.

13 August 1997
Pakistan's top nuclear scientist, Qadeer Khan, stated on 12 August 1997 that the nuclear program in his country would continue despite criticism from the West. "It is so central to out security, and national security is so dear to us, that we don't care who is saying what about our peaceful program," Khan said. He added that efforts of scientists had placed Pakistan into the "club of six or seven countries capable of enriching uranium up to 95 percent for use in weapons of mass destruction." The fact that there has been no war between India and Pakistan since 1971 indicates the importance of this deterrent, said Khan.

Also Khan rejected the notion of a nuclear and missile arms race between India and Pakistan. "Call it an arms race or defense preparedness. We take pride in our endeavors in the nuclear field, which originally came as a response to the Indian nuclear test in 1974."

Head of the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL), Khan described the suburban Islamabad facility as the pride of every Pakistani and the best achievement in the past 50 years in a country where "the state of science and education is otherwise pathetic." He refused to respond when asked if Pakistan actually possessed a nuclear device.
--"Pakistan Defiant On Nuclear Program" Washington Times, 13 August 1997, by Imtiaz Gul.

8 September 1997
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif acknowledged his country's nuclear capability on 7 September 1997 in Lahore. "The issue of nuclear capability is an established fact. Hence the debate on this issue should come to an end," said Sharif while urging the media not to discuss it further. Referring to Pakistan's nuclear program, he said the country had progressed significantly, and said, "we have left that stage (developmental) far behind." Sharif is to meet with US President Bill Clinton in late September 1997 to discuss, among other issues, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
--"Nawaz Sharif Acknowledges Pakistan's Nuclear Capability" The Times of India, 8 September 1997, by Shahid Ahmed Khan [Online - http://www.timesofindia.com/today/home2.htm].

23 September 1997
In a speech to the United Nations on 22 September 1997, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif offered to begin discussion with India on a non-aggression pact between the two countries, and on mutual restraint on nuclear weapons and delivery systems. Sharif's proposal included a deal to demonstrate "mutual and equal restraint in the nuclear and ballistic [missile] fields. All this and much more can be achieved if India joins us in pursuing our current dialogue to its successful culmination." Sharif and Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral met at the United Nations on 23 September 1997, but did not discuss the Pakistani proposal.
--"Pakistan Suggests Peace Deal With India" Asia News, 23 September 1997 [Online - http://127.0.0.1:1888/C:/Nattache/...m/online/news/001/asia/news008.htm]. Nando net, 23 September 1997 [Online - http://www.nando.net/ newsroom/ntn/ world/092397/ world7_7452_noframes.html], "India, Pakistan Don't Discuss Monday's Proposal."

1 December 1997
Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmed told the newspaper "Jang" in November 1997 that the day India signs the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), Pakistan "will immediately do so." Until that time, Ahmed said Pakistan will not be made a "hostage to India by signing the CTBT before India." Pakistan perceives India's nuclear program as a threat to the regional security of South Asia and is, therefore, insisting on a regional solution.
--"Pakistan To Sign Test Ban Pact Only After India" Asian Defence Journal, December 1997, p. 147.

 

[Neo]

28 May 1998
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reported on 28 May 1998 that Pakistan conducted five nuclear tests and had "settled the score with India." Sharif also reported that Pakistan would weaponize its intermediate-range ballistic missile Ghauri with nuclear warheads. In addition, Sharif criticized the international community's response to India's nuclear tests and said, "Pakistan was left with no choice but to detonate its own nuclear devices." Finally, while Pakistanis cheered in the streets of Islamabad, India's parliament erupted into shouting as opposition leaders blamed the government for starting a nuclear arms race.
--"Pakistan Conducts Five Nuclear Tests" New York Times, 28 May 1998, [Online - www.nytimes.com].

11 June 1998
In June 1998, Israel's ambassadors to the United States and the United Nations received assurances from their Pakistani counterparts that Pakistan will not transfer nuclear technology or materials to Iran or to other Middle Eastern countries. Israeli officials had feared that Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Harrazi's visit to Pakistan shortly after its May 1998 nuclear weapons tests was a sign that Pakistan was preparing to sell nuclear technology to Iran.
--"Pakistan Promises Not To Provide Nuclear Aid To Iran" Israel Wire, 11 June 1998, [Online - http://www.israelwire.com].

19 August 1998
According to Pakistani industry officials, centrifuges are being produced at the Pakistan Steel Mills, which have been used in uranium enrichment for the past several months. The Pakistan Steel Mills operate under the Kahuta Laboratories. The Mills have been closed since 1989 but are currently in the last stages of modernization. The Mills are producing 40,000 tons of "different type of chemical and special steel," including low carbon maraging steel which has applications for Pakistan's defense industries and nuclear program. Dr. Qadeer Khan, head of the Kahuta Research Laboratories, expressed the importance of the Mills, stating that Pakistan cannot import such materials due to international sanctions.
--"Pak Produces Component For Uranium Enrichment: VOG" Pakistan Link, 19 August 1998, [Online - http://www.pakistanlink.com/].

24 September 1998
Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on 23 September 1998 that he would sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Sharif said he would sign the CTBT only if the United States lifted sanctions. The sanctions were imposed on Pakistan in May 1998 after it conducted its nuclear tests. Sharif said that "Pakistan's adherence to the treaty will take place only in conditions free from coercion or pressure." In addition he said that "we expect that the arbitrary restrictions imposed on Pakistan by multilateral institutions will be speedily removed and that discriminatory sanctions against Pakistan will be lifted." UN Secretary General Kofi Annan applauded Pakistan's decision. He said that "the government of Pakistan is to be commended for heeding the concern of the international community."
--"Pakistan Will Sign Nuclear Test Ban, Even If India Doesn't" Washington Times, 24 September 1998, by Betsy Pisik, p.A-17.

12 November 1998
Top Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan said that although Pakistan "is capable of developing the hydrogen bomb," it does not need to since it responded to India's nuclear detonations in May 1998 with nuclear tests of its own. He said that even if Pakistan were to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), it would not affect Pakistan's ability to develop a hydrogen bomb. Khan said "the nuclear arms and missile capabilities of Pakistan are enough to respond to any aggressive design of the enemy."
--"Khan: Pakistan Could Build but Does 'Not Need' H-Bomb" The News (Islamabad), 12 November 1998.

17 November 1998
According to "reliable sources of the [Pakistani] Federal Government," Pakistan has started producing plutonium for use in hydrogen, plutonium, and neutron weapons. According to this report, Pakistan is capable of producing thermo-nuclear and neutron bombs. Pakistani experts claim that the Khushab nuclear reactor is producing Plutonium 239 (Pu-239), an artificial radioactive element used in some nuclear weapons.
--"Pakistan Starts Producing Plutonium" The Nation, 17 November 1998, [http://www.nation.com.pk/live.htm] (17 November 1998).

15 December 1998
Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad, chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), said on 14 December 1998 that Pakistan was one of the few countries that has been able to master the nuclear fuel cycle. He said that the 29 May 1998 nuclear tests enabled Pakistanis to "hold our heads high in the international community." He said that the PAEC would try to focus in the future less on foreign trading to ensure long-term self-reliance in the area of nuclear technology.

Ahmad pointed out that Pakistan mines and refines its own uranium, is the only Muslim country with an operational nuclear power plant [at Karachi], and is constructing a second nuclear plant at Chashma. He also noted that Pakistan had to produce its own fuel and heavy water after Canada stopped its nuclear assistance in 1976. Thereafter, Pakistan modernized the instrumentation and control system of the nuclear plant at Karachi, which contributed to extending its design life by ten years. He also gave much of the credit for Pakistan's success in the nuclear field to the Pakistan Institute for Science and Technology (PINSTECH).
--"Pakistan Self Sufficient in N-Disciplines: PAC" Dawn, 15 December 1998, [http://dawn.com/daily/today/top5.htm]

22 January 1999
Officials at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) announced on 21 January 1999 that the 330 MW Chashma nuclear power plant, currently being built with Chinese assistance, would start commercial production by the end of 1999. Officials said that the final tests for the plant should be completed by August 1999.
--"Chashma Plant to Start Working by Year End" Pakistan Link, 22 January 1999, [http://www.pakistanlink.com/headlines/Jan/22/07.html].

25 May 1999
In late May 1999, Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan said in an interview that the 28 May 1998 nuclear tests had not depleted Pakistan's stockpile of nuclear material. Khan said, "We [Pakistan] have been making the nuclear material for a long period...We have enough stock for our security and for deterrence, more than enough." Khan was asked if A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories had produced any bombs since the 28 May 1998 nuclear tests. Khan replied, "Sure, because as long as you don't sign the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) the process will be carried on." He said A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories was trying to improve the efficiency of Pakistan's nuclear warheads and delivery vehicles. He said, "the process would not be slowed even if Pakistan signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). "Khan said the CTBT would not prevent Pakistan from conducting, "cold tests" and perfecting its designs. Khan also said the 28 May 1998 nuclear tests had, "more or less finished" the Pakistan-India arms race.
--"Pakistan is still making nuclear bombs: Qadeer" Dawn (Karachi), 25 May 1999, http://www.dawn.com/daily/text/top6.htm.

27 May 1999
In late May 1999, Pakistani Director General of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Mirza Mansoor Beg said Pakistan made nuclear devices that could be detonated at short time intervals and could be moved far distances without inconvenience. Beg said the major challenge on Pakistan's nuclear path was acquiring a nuclear reactor denied by sanctions on Pakistan. He said the nuclear plant was designed and manufactured independently by Pakistan. He said that telemetry technology was also developed independently by Pakistani scientists.
--"Pakistan Develops A Number Of Nuclear Devices: DG PAEC" The Nation (Islamabad), 27 May 1999, [http://www.nation.com.pk/top7.htm].

1 July 1999
On 30 June 1999, during a debate in the Pakistani Senate, Religious Affairs Minister Raja Mohammad Zafarul Haq said, "Pakistan has the right to react with all military might at its disposal in case its security was threatened." He said that the purpose of developing weapons becomes "meaningless if they are not used when they are needed to be used." He said that the use of nuclear weapons is "the right of the country if its security is in jeopardy." He said, "Nuclear weapons are not meant to be kept on the shelf if security of the motherland is threatened." He said, "We have nuclear deterrent and would like to reiterate it is for our national security not for formal exhibition." He said Pakistan would use all available resources, "including the nuclear option," for its national security.
--"Nuclear Pakistan vows use of 'all military might'" Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 1 July 1999, []Page Not Found. - LexisNexis. "Pakistan minister says use of nuclear weapons justifiable if national security jeopardized," PTI news agency (New Delhi), 30 June 1999; in BBC, 1 July 1999; in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 2 July 1999, [http://web.lexis- nexis.com/universe]. "Raja Zafarul Haq tells Senate," Frontier Post, 1 July 1999.

4 August 1999
On 4 August 1999, Pakistani officials said that foreign investment in Pakistan dropped by 51 percent in 1998 due to the US-led international economic sanctions. Officials said foreign investment declined from $822 million to $403 million during fiscal year 1997-1998. Total direct foreign investment also fell 37 percent to $376 million and portfolio investment fell 87 percent to $27 million. Economic sanctions were imposed on Pakistan after it conducted nuclear tests on 28 May 1998. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and Asian Development Bank also suspended all aid packages to Pakistan after the nuclear tests.
--"Pakistani nuclear tests see halving of foreign investment" Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, 4 August 1999, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe.

3 February 2000
On 3 February 2000, Pakistan announced that it has created a National Command Authority (NCA) to facilitate the command and control of its nuclear weapons. The NCA will compromise the Employment Control Committee (ECC), the Development Control Committee (DCC), and a Strategic Plans Division (SPD). The head of government, General Pervez Musharraf, will head the committees. The other members of the ECC will be the ministers of foreign affairs (deputy chairman of ECC), defense, and interior, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee, the chiefs of the armed forces, and the director-general of the SPD. The DCC will include the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee (deputy chairman of DCC), the chiefs of the armed forces, the director general of the SPD, and a "representative of the strategic organization and scientific community".
--"Pakistan Sets Up Weapons Control Authority" Times of India (New Delhi), 4 February 2000, The Times of India: No 1 site for Breaking news, views, reviews, cricket, business, lifestyle, sports.

12 June 2000
The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) has started reprocessing operations at New Labs in Rawalpindi, which is located next to the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (Pinstech). New Labs separates the plutonium from spent fuel from the PAEC's unsafeguarded Khushab reactor. This could enable Pakistan to build plutonium-based nuclear weapons. The weapons that Pakistan tested in May 1998 were all uranium-based. According to unnamed senior US government officials, the Khushab reactor and the reprocessing plant are capable of producing 8-10kg of unsafeguarded weapons-grade plutonium per year. Access to plutonium could allow Pakistan to design more compact nuclear warheads for ballistic missiles. According to US officials, the Pakistani government is under pressure from its scientists to test a plutonium weapon. However, one unnamed analyst said that PAEC had taken the steps to conduct another nuclear weapons test, in case India was to carry out another test of its thermonuclear weapon.
--"Pakistani Separation Plant Now Producing 8-10kg Plutonium/Yr" Mark Hibbs, NuclearFuel, 12 June 2000, Platts.

25 July 2000
Pakistan announced yesterday measures to formally organize its commercial exports of nuclear material. The trade ministry reported that the possible exporters will require a certificate from the Pakistani Atomic Energy Agency allowing them to export specific nuclear equipment and material. The report categorized certifiable nuclear material as follows: natural uranium, depleted uranium, enriched uranium, thorium, plutonium, zirconium, heavy water, tritium, beryllium, natural and industrial radioactive materials on the condition that their radiation level be less than 200 micro-curies per gram, and enriched nuclear graphite provided it has no less than five parts boron per million and that its density exceed 1.5g/cm3. The items listed are regulated whether they are found as metal, a chemical derivative, or within another material that contains one or more of said elements.

The report defines the specific nuclear equipment as any equipment utilized to produce and use the applications of nuclear energy, or for generating energy for nuclear reactors. The listed equipment includes: pressure vessels for reactors, machines to load or unload reactor fuel, primary cooling tubes, reactor monitoring systems, internal equipment for reactors, and any equipment directly related to the reactor containers that control the level of energy in the reactor core or it cooling.
--"Pakistan Organizes Its Nuclear material Exports" Al-Ittihad, 25 July 2000, Al Ittihad - ????? ???????.

26 September 2000
The Chashma nuclear power plant, built under a turnkey contract with the China National Nuclear Corporation, was handed over to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission on 26 September 2000.
--"China Hands Over Chashma Nuclear power Plant to Pakistan" Radio Pakistan (Islamabad), 27 September 2000 FBIS Document SAP20000927000020.

 

[Neo]

2001-2008

26 January 2001
According to Pakistan's former Chief of Army Staff, General (Retd.) Mirza Aslam Beg, Pakistan concluded in 1989 that it had an adequate nuclear deterrent and did not need to increase it. Beg said, "we wanted a credible minimum deterrent and that deterrence is related to the very minimum number of devices that we needed and a very minimum capability to deliver those...and that we achieved in 1989 when Benazir Bhutto was prime minister and that is still the policy we follow."

Beg also claimed that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal was safe because "we [Pakistan] have a bomb-in-the-basement policy where not even a bomb is placed over there, not a device, but components are put together if needed...and then it is many miles away from the delivery system, that is, the missiles and aircraft...that by itself provides tremendous security, an in-built safety which is not understood by people who don't understand the real logic of our program or the restrictions we have imposed on ourselves."
--"Ex-Army Head: Pakistan Had Nuclear Arsenal in 1989" New York Times, 26 June 2001, The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia.

27 January 2001
Pakistan's Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Abdul Aziz Mirza has said that if necessary Pakistan will deploy nuclear weapons on submarines.
--"Pakistan Navy Chief: "We Will Install Nuclear Arms on our Submarines, if Needed" Dawn (Karachi), FBIS Document: SAP20010127000053, 27.

13 March 2001
Pakistan's 300MW-Chashma nuclear power plant has stopped functioning because of a "technical fault." Nuclear scientists from China and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission are trying to fix the fault, but for the time being the plant remains out of commission.
--"Pakistan's new nuclear plant develops 'technical fault,' shut down" Al-Akhbar (Islamabad), FBIS Document: SAP20010314000042, 13.

2 January 2002
India and Pakistan Monday exchanged information on their nuclear facilities, according to The Washington Post. Meanwhile, tensions loomed over the two countries as they each moved military forces toward their common border, according to reports. The exchange of nuclear facility data, which includes locations of nuclear installations, has been an annual practice since 1992, the Post reported. The exchange began under an agreement between the two countries that stipulated they would not attack each other's nuclear facilities in the event of war. The recent information swap is seen as an effort to reduce tensions between the two countries since an attack by Islamic militants on the Indian Parliament on Dec. 13.
--"India-Pakistan: Nuclear Facilities Data Exchanged"Washington Post, Jan. 2.

27 January 2002
In a message to Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to mark India's Republic Day, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf sent his "sincere felicitations" and said Pakistan wanted good relations with its eastern neighbor. His message comes one day after India tested a nuclear-capable missile, a move condemned by Pakistan and described as "risky" by the European Union as it came at a time of high tensions.
--"Pakistan calls for peace after Indian missile test" CNN World CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News
/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/01/26/
india.missile.pakistan/index.html.

29 January 2002
Pakistan has decided not to press criminal charges against two of its nuclear scientists whose reported contacts with Osama bin Laden stirred fears of nuclear terrorism, according to officials and a lawyer involved in the case.
--Pakistan to Forgo Charges Against 2 Nuclear Scientists; Ties to Bin Laden Suspected The Washington Post, January 30, 2002 by: Peter Baker and Kamran.

3 March 2002
Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi disputed a report in Sunday's Washington Post that identified Bashiruddin Mahmood as a past chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. Lodhi said Mahmood did not have the knowledge of or access to sensitive nuclear material. "He was a very junior official in our nuclear establishment and therefore would never have the kind of knowledge or capability to frankly share or impart to anybody," Lodhi said on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer." Pakistan has had no incidents of nuclear theft, leakage of nuclear material or unauthorized access to nuclear research, the ambassador said.
--"Scientist did not share secrets with al Qaeda, she says" CNN World
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/
WORLD/asiapcf/south/03/03/
gen.pakistan.nuclear/.

6 July 2002
If communications are disrupted during a war with India, Pakistan's nuclear missiles could be launched by army officers acting without central authority, according to senior British sources and critics of the country's nuclear programme. Officially, the control rests with President Pervez Musharraf who, apart from being head of government, is chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. But critics say that shortcomings in the command system mean that in the event of a crisis a brigadier or corps commander could have only a few minutes to decide whether to order a nuclear strike, risking Indian retaliation.
--"Finger on nuclear button is not Musharraf's" Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/
Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/
news/2002/06/07/wkash107.xml&site=5&page=0.

15 August 2002
Pakistan will not allow U.N. monitors to inspect its nuclear facilities, President Pervez Musharraf said Thursday. In an interview with Russia's Izvestia newspaper, Musharraf also ruled out the possibility of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan. "Our nuclear facilities are fully secure and there's no need for inspection by U.N. experts," the official Associated Press of Pakistan news agency quoted him as saying.
--"Pakistan: No inspection of nuclear plants" United Press International, August 15, 2002.

19 October 2002
US intelligence officials have concluded that Pakistan, a vital ally since last year's terrorist attacks, was a major supplier of critical equipment for North Korea's newly revealed clandestine nuclear weapons program, current and former senior American officials said on Thursday. The equipment, which may include gas centrifuges used to create weapons-grade uranium, appears to have been part of a barter deal beginning in the late 1990s in which North Korea supplied Pakistan with missiles it could use to counter India's nuclear arsenal, the officials said.
--"Pakistan supplied nuclear technology to North Korea: US" The Taipei Times Taipei Times - TaipeiTimes
front/archives/2002/10/19/176249.

20 October 2002
Political changes will not affect Pakistan's nuclear policies as the country's forces will continue to control its nuclear weapons, a Pakistani minister told United Press International on Sunday. The minister's pledge follows U.S. intelligence reports that Pakistan helped North Korea build nuclear weapons. The reports have had an unsettling affect on Pakistan, where both government and opposition forces have been busy denying them.
--"Pakistan: No Change in Nuclear Policy" United Press International, October 20, 2002.

30 December 2002
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf suggested Monday that he'd been prepared to use atomic weapons if neighbor India had invaded earlier this year when tensions peaked. But his government later backed off the assertion, saying he was not referring to the use of such weapons.
--"Pakistan Backs Off Nuclear Assertion" CBS News http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/
2002/12/30/world/main534641.shtml.

8 January 2003
The Pakistani government on Wednesday rebuked allegations that a top Pakistani nuclear scientist has helped North Korea and Iraq develop nuclear arms, saying Pakistan has a consistent and established record of safeguarding its nuclear technology. A U.S. newspaper last week quoted a senior aide of former U.S. President Bill Clinton as saying that the Pakistani scientist, A.Q. Khan, would top the list of people who had contributed in nuclear proliferation.
--"Pakistan Nuclear Scientist 1 8 0169 Pakistan rejects allegations over nuclear scientist" Kyodo World News Service, January 8, 2003.

3 April 2003
Serious, ongoing and potentially catastrophic problems in geopolitically important but politically weak Pakistan are getting too little attention from U.S. officials while Iraq remains America's primary foreign policy focus, according to think tank experts who follow South Asia.
--"Pakistan Still a Major Threat, Say Experts" United Press International, April 3, 2003.

6 May 2003
After 16 months of stony silence, interrupted by the near outbreak of war last June, India and Pakistan are suddenly making all the right moves to start peace talks. Monday, Pakistan raised the stakes by offering to get rid of its nuclear arsenal if India followed suit. The reasons for this spring warming trend - initiated by India - are still coming to light. But they range from the swift US victory in Iraq and mounting concern over nuclear proliferation and terrorism to a legacy quest by India's ailing prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee. Diplomats here say this may be the best chance in years to defuse tensions between two nuclear powers that have fought three wars in the past half century. "The most interesting thing about these peace moves is that they come when absolutely nothing is happening on the ground," says a Western diplomat who monitors the Kashmir dispute closely.
--Scott Baldauf and Amol Sharma, "India, Pakistan suddenly talk peace" The Christian Science Monitor.

7 July 2003
Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf insisted on Monday that his country's nuclear arsenal is under tight control and will not fall into the "wrong hands," after officials said that $3 billion in U.S. aid depends in part on Pakistan exporting no nuclear technology. "Pakistan will never proliferate," President Pervez Musharraf told scientists at a college near the capital Islamabad, the state-run news agency said. "Pakistan's nuclear potential is under very strong custodial control."
--"Musharraf says Pakistan will keep its nuclear arsenal from 'wrong hands' "AP Worldstream, July 7, 2003 by: MUNIR AHMAD, Associated Press Writer.

4 October 2003
Pakistan fired a surface-to-surface, nuclear-capable rocket on Friday in its first test in months, but it denied that the launch had anything to do with stalled peace talks with India.
--"Pakistan Tests Missile Able to Hit Sites in India" NYT October 4 2003.

2 November 2003
One man was killed and another injured on the weekend in a blast at a liquid nitrogen plant which is part of a nuclear research facility at Nilore, 25 km (16 miles) from the Pakistani capital, the state-run news agency said. The Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said the explosion occurred at the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, an educational wing of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. Officials have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the blast, the agency said. APP said no Pakistani nuclear facility had been affected. Pakistan has two nuclear power plants, one in the southern port city of Karachi and one in Mianwali, southern Punjab. It also has its own nuclear arsenal, as does arch-rival India.
--"Blast at Pakistan nuclear research site kills one" Planet Ark
dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=19777.

23 December 2003
Pakistan said on Tuesday that rogue scientists driven by "ambition and greed" may have spread nuclear technology to Iran - Islamabad's most explicit acknowledgment of such help, prompted by questioning from the U.N. atomic watchdog. The admission, after months of denials, is the latest in a wave of nuclear disclosures, following revelations from Libya and Iran. Pakistan said it was cooperating with the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency after the agency's inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities showed that international and "Pakistani-linked individuals" had acted as "intermediaries and black marketeers."
--"Iranian disclosure prompts admission from Pakistan it may have rogue nuclear scientists" USA Today, Latest World & National News & Headlines - USATODAY.com
world/2003-12-23-pakistan_x.htm.

24 December 2003
A lengthy investigation of the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan, by U.S. and European intelligence agencies and international nuclear inspectors has forced Pakistani officials to question his aides and openly confront evidence that their country was the source of technology to enrich uranium for Iran, North Korea and other nations.
--"Pakistan backs off nuclear aid denials Senior official promises a broad inquiry on alleged help to Iran and North Korea" International Herald Tribune, December 24, 2003 by: William Broad, David Rohde and David E. Sanger.

 

[Neo]

29 January 2004
Pakistani investigators probing leaks of nuclear technology now believe that Abdul Qadeer Khan, known to his countrymen as "the father of the bomb," and a senior colleague, assisted Iran and Libya through an international network operating out of Dubai. An intelligence source said on condition of anonymity that while the identities of the nuclear traffickers are still being uncovered, "it is beyond any doubt that at least two Pakistani scientists constituted a major source of supply for the network."
--"Pakistan's nuclear salesmen are identified" San Francisco Chronicle, Juliette Terzieff.

2 February 2004
The man who founded Pakistan's nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, has confessed to transferring nuclear technology to North Korea, Iran and Libya. The government maintains it has not sanctioned the transfer of any nuclear secrets.
--"Pakistan nuclear hero 'confesses'" CNN World http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/
asiapcf/02/02/pakistan.nuclear/index.html.

4 February 2004
The United States is standing by key ally Pakistan after the father of its nuclear weapons program admitted he had shared nuclear secrets with other nations. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Wednesday the United States will work closely with Pakistan to win the war on terrorism. "We appreciate their efforts to address what is a serious concern, which is proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."
--"U.S. stands by Pakistan" CNN World http://www.cnn.com/2004/
WORLD/asiapcf/02/04/pakistan.nuclear/.

7 February 2004
Pakistan's foreign minister said his country would cooperate fully with the U.N.'s atomic agency after the nation's top nuclear scientist admitted he gave weapons secrets to other countries.
--"Pakistan pledges IAEA cooperation" CNN World CNN.com - Pakistan pledges IAEA cooperation - Feb. 7, 2004.

18 February 2004
President Pervez Musharraf rejected any move to bring in foreign inspectors to monitor Pakistan's nuclear weapons or civil nuclear facilities after the father of the country's atomic bomb confessed this month to selling nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea. "We are not interested in competing with India," Musharraf said in an interview in Wednesday's newspaper. But he said that in the next few weeks Pakistan would test-fire its Shaheen II missile, which has a range of 2,000 km (1,200 miles), making it capable of striking just about anywhere in India.
--"Pakistan: No nuke race with India" CNN World http://edition.cnn.com/2004/
WORLD/asiapcf/02/17/
nuclear.pakistan.reut/.

19 February 2004
"We do have before us now a sort of a basic road map for a Pakistan-India peace process to which we have both agreed," Pakistani Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokar said at a news conference after a two-hour meeting with his Indian counterpart, Shashank, who uses one name. "We hope this road map will eventually lead to the settlement of all outstanding disputes between India and Pakistan and in the direction of durable peace." Before the two leaders met, Indian officials had resisted reviving direct talks, accusing Pakistan of backing Islamic insurgents in the part of Kashmir that India controls. But India relented after [Pervez Musharraf] agreed to a joint statement pledging that he would "not permit any territory under Pakistan's control to be used to support terrorism in any manner." In an telephone interview Wednesday night from London, where he is traveling on official business, Pakistani Interior Minister Faisel Saleh Hayat said Jamaat ul-Dawa had not been banned "because there is no credible substantive evidence that it is indulging in activities against the interest of Pakistan or using Pakistan as a base to harm the interest of people or governments or countries outside" Pakistan.
--"Pakistan And India Agree to Peace Talks" The Washington Post - Washington, D.C. By: John Lancaster.

17 March 2004
The government told the National Assembly on Tuesday that Pakistan had come out 'clear' from the nuclear proliferation scandal and there was no question of rolling back its nuclear program. Responding to a call-attention notice from five PPP members during the morning sitting on a private members' day, Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed denied reports that IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) experts could inspect the country's nuclear programme.
--"Pakistan came out of N-crisis safely: No question of rollback, NA told" The Dawn By Amir Wasim Pakistan came out of N-crisis safely: No question of rollback, NA told -DAWN - Top Stories; 17 March, 2004.

6 May 2004
The United States and Pakistan have not struck a deal enabling Islamabad to go easy on the founder of Pakistan's nuclear program while ratcheting up its fight against al Qaeda in tribal regions, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said Sunday.
--"No 'deal' on Pakistan nuke pardon" CNN World http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/03/28/
musharraf.nuclear/index.html.

21 June 1004
India and Pakistan agreed Sunday to set up a hotline between their foreign ministries to reduce the threat of accidental nuclear war, giving a small but helpful nudge to a nascent peace process that began with a meeting between their leaders in January. The announcement came at the end of two days of talks on nuclear confidence-building measures. Delegates from the two sides, who described the atmosphere surrounding the talks as friendly, also agreed to continue a moratorium on nuclear testing, except in what they termed "extraordinary" circumstances.
--"India, Pakistan to Set Up Hotline" Washington Post Foreign Service by John Lancaster.

2 July 2004
President Pervez Musharraf might have pardoned Mr Khan for selling nuclear technology but the scientist remains under de facto house arrest. Pakistani officials hinted that Mr Khan, 67, might stay in confinement for the rest of his life.
--"Bleak future for Pakistan's 'bomb hero'" Telegraph
News - Telegraph
main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/02/07/
wpak07.xml&sSheet=/news/
2004/02/07/ixnewstop.html.

27 November 2004
Pakistan on Saturday defended its efforts to halt leaks of nuclear technology amid suggestions that a new CIA report says a renegade scientist provided more help to Iran's nuclear weapons program than previously disclosed. The CIA - which provides the U.S. Congress with six-month updates on reported efforts by Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea and Syria to obtain chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons technology - posted an unclassified version on its Web site this week. Analyzing the report, The New York Times said it indicates that bomb-making designs provided by Abdul Qadeer Khan to Iran in the 1990s were more significant than Washington has said.
--"Pakistan downplays report on nuclear leaks to Iran, Libya" USA Today World News: International headlines, stories, photos & videos - USATODAY.com
2004-11-27-pakistan-nuclear_x.htm.

10 March 2005
The Pakistani information minister admitted today that Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear programme, gave nuclear technology to Iran, but insisted the government knew nothing of the transaction. It was the first time the Pakistani government admitted that Dr Khan actually gave material to Iran, though they have said in the past that his criminal group sold technology and blueprints to several countries. "Dr Abdul Qadeer gave some centrifuges to Iran," Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told the Associated Press in a telephone interview. "He helped Iran in his personal capacity, and the Pakistan government had nothing to do with it."
--"Pakistan admits nuclear expert traded with Iran" The Guardian Pakistan | World news | guardian.co.uk
Story/0,2763,1434875,00.html.

9 April 2005
Dr Ishfaque Ahmed, special adviser to the prime minister on the strategic program, said on Friday that Pakistan would build more nuclear power plants after the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Unit-2 (CHASNUPP-2) to achieve its target of generating 8,800mw by 2020. He was speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Chashma-2project, which will be completed by 2011 at a cost of Rs51 billion. The project, with a gross production capacity of 340mw, will be jointly built by the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) under the monitoring of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
--"Pakistan to build more N-power plants: Ground-breaking of Chashma-2" The Dawn By Sher Baz Khan http://www.dawn.com/2005/
04/09/top1.htm.

10 April 2005
Pakistan will be holding talks with the Nuclear Suppliers Group on Monday as a "nuclear weapon state." Quoting Foreign Ministry spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani the report says that the visit of the NSG delegation will provide an opportunity to Pakistan to explain the steps taken by Pakistan for the establishment of export control regime for sensitive materials and technologies.
--"Talks between Pakistan, Nuclear Supplier Group tomorrow" Pakistan Times Pakistan Times - Pakistan's First Independent Complete Daily E-Newspaper - January,1 2006
04/10/top2.htm.

5 August 2005
India and Pakistan have started a fresh round of talks aimed at building trust on military issues and avoiding an accidental nuclear war, officials said. The two sides hope to finalize an agreement to notify each other ahead of missile tests and upgrade an existing hotline to reduce risks of nuclear accidents, an Indian foreign ministry spokesman said.
--"India, Pakistan resume talks on nuclear issues" AFX News Limited Business Information and Business News - Forbes.com
feeds/afx/2005/08/05/afx2174420.html.

11 August 2005
Pakistan successfully test-fired its first cruise missile on the 62nd birthday of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who hailed Thursday's launch as a move toward "military balance" in the region. Archrival India declined to comment on the test of the Babur missile, which has a range of 310 miles and is capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads. Pakistan fired the missile from an undisclosed location without notifying India - just days after the two governments formalized an agreement on telling each other in advance about missile tests.
--"Pakistan test fires nuclear-capable cruise missile" USA Today Latest World & National News & Headlines - USATODAY.com
world/2005-08-11-pakistan-missile_x.htm.

25 August 2005
Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, confirmed for the first time that a Pakistani nuclear scientist had provided North Korea with centrifuge machines that could be used to make fuel for an atomic bomb, a Japanese news agency reported. In an interview Tuesday with Kyodo News, Musharraf said the former head of his country's nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, had sent "centrifuges - parts and complete" to North Korea. The Pakistani leader did not divulge the number of centrifuges that had arrived in North Korea, saying, "I do not exactly remember the number." Musharraf also said Khan might have sent North Korea uranium hexafluoride, which can be enriched in centrifuges and then processed into fuel for civilian nuclear reactors or atomic warheads.
--"Pakistan admits scientist gave North Korea nuclear tools"
San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/
article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/
08/25/MNG71ECO571.DTL.

8 September 2005
Pakistan should have the same access to U.S. civilian nuclear technology that President Bush has proposed for India, the Pakistani ambassador to the United States says. Jehangir Karamat, Pakistan's former army chief, also warned that "the balance of power in South Asia should not become so tilted in India's favor, as a result of the U.S. relationship with India, that Pakistan has to start taking extraordinary measures to ensure a capability for deterrence and defense." The Bush administration is working to persuade Congress to approve a deal that would ship civilian nuclear technology to India. In return, New Delhi would have to place its civilian facilities under safeguards of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency. On Thursday, two undersecretaries of state, Nicholas Burns and Robert Joseph, were to testify before a House International Relations Committee hearing on the India-U.S. nuclear agreement. Critics, however, contend that Pakistan's is a different case from India's. A.Q. Khan, a national hero known as the father of Pakistan's bomb, ran a network smuggling nuclear weapons technology.
--"Pakistan wants civilian nuke deal, ambassador says" USA Today Latest World & National News & Headlines - USATODAY.com
washington/2005-09-08-pakistan
civiliannuclear_x.htm.

28 December 2005
Pakistan began construction today of a second nuclear power station with China's help at Chashma in Punjab province. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz launched work on the 325-megawatt power plant, a twin to an adjacent station of the same capacity already in service since 2000. 'Today's concrete-pouring ceremony of Chashma-2 marks yet another landmark in Pakistan-China relations and a milestone in the history of nuclear technology in Pakistan,' Aziz told a gathering of senior Chinese and Pakistani officials. The 850 mln usd project is expected to start production in 2011, a Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission spokesman told Agence France-Presse.
--"Pakistan starts work on second nuclear power plant with China's help"
AFX News Limited, Stock Market News, Stock Quotes, and World Markets - Forbes.com
feeds/afx/2005/12/28/
afx2416856.html.

 

[Neo]

3 January 2006
Pakistan has denied a report it is in talks to buy between six and eight nuclear reactors from China in a deal worth up to $10bn (£5.8bn). Britain's Financial Times newspaper quoted an official saying construction could begin in 2015 and take 10 years. Such a deal would add more than 4,000 megawatts of electricity to Pakistan's national grid, the paper said. But a spokeswoman said that while Pakistan was considering more nuclear energy, the FT report was "baseless".
--"Pakistan denies new reactor plan" BBC
BBC NEWS | News Front Page
south_asia/4577044.stm.

30 April 2006
A top Pakistani nuclear official detained nearly two years ago in a probe into a proliferation network run by disgraced scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan had been freed, a military spokesman said. Mohammed Farooq, who worked as director general of the country's main nuclear enrichment facility, Khan Research Laboratories, was freed last week, chief military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan told Agence France-Presse.
--"Pakistani nuclear official freed" AFX News Limited http://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/
afx/2006/04/30/afx2708833.html.

24 July 2006
The White House on Monday sought to discourage Pakistan from expanding its nuclear weapons program after a published report that it was building a powerful new reactor that could generate plutonium for 40 to 50 nuclear bombs a year.
--"Report: Pakistan working on big increase in nuclear weapons" USA Today Latest World & National News & Headlines - USATODAY.com
world/2006-07-24-pakistan-nuclear_x.htm.

15 November 2006
India and Pakistan agreed on measures to combat terrorism and prevent an accidental nuclear conflict in South Asia at the first peace talks since a terrorist attack on Mumbai's train network in July, Pakistan's foreign secretary said Wednesday. Blaming the attack - which killed more than 200 people - on militants based in Pakistan, and on Islamabad's intelligence service, India put the talks on hold. The key to resumption was a deal to create what was described as an "anti-terrorism mechanism" that could help the historic rivals work together to halt attacks like those in Mumbai. Pakistani Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan told reporters that, at talks that began Tuesday, he and Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shanker Menon had agreed to set up a three-member commission to exchange information on terror threats. A Foreign Ministry official from each side is to work with the group, he said.
--"India and Pakistan agree on anti-terror, nuclear safety measures" USA Today Latest World & National News & Headlines - USATODAY.com
world/2006-11-15-india-pakistan_x.htm.

16 November 2006
Pakistan said it successfully test-fired a new version of its nuclear-capable medium-range missile Thursday, a show of power a day after peace talks with India that were criticized by domestic hard-liners. The North Korean-designed Ghauri missile, also known as the Hatf 5, was launched to mark the end of military exercises at an undisclosed location, an army statement said. The missile with a range of 800 miles could easily strike deep into neighboring India, Pakistan's nuclear-armed foe.
--"Pakistan Tests Nuclear-Capable Missile" Washington Post washingtonpost.com: Challenge Index
content/article/2006/11/16/
AR2006111600136.html.

26 December 2006
Pakistan: Iran has the right to pursue nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, opposing U.N. sanctions against the Middle East nation for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. "Pakistan had never been in favor of sanctions against Iran," Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan said. "We always emphasized that there ought to be a diplomatic solution of the Iranian nuclear issue." Khan's comments came after the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution on Saturday to bar countries from supplying Iran with materials and technology that could contribute to its nuclear and missile programs.
--"Pakistan says Iran has right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes" International Herald Tribune,
International Herald Tribune - World News, Analysis, and Global Opinions
/2006/12/26/asia/
AS_GEN_Pakistan_Iran_Nuclear.php.

15 January 2007
Police in north-west Pakistan say they have foiled a bid to abduct six officials working for the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). According to local sources, at least 20 armed men raided the PAEC office in the village of Banda Daud Shah in Karak district on Sunday night. The kidnappers took the officials hostage and set off with them towards the Orakzai agency in the nearby tribal areas. However, they were stopped at the checkpoint after exchanging gunfire with security forces. All the hostages were freed.
--"Pakistan 'nuclear' kidnap foiled" BBC World BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Pakistan 'nuclear' kidnap foiled.

31 January 2007
Pakistan plans to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a 45-nation body that sets guidelines for trading nuclear materials and technology, the Pakistani Daily Times reported yesterday (see GSN, Mar. 21, 2006). The goal was described in a report of a government planning commission, which did not address a major possible stumbling block: Pakistan's refusal to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
--"Pakistan Aims to Join Nuclear Suppliers Group" Global Security Newswire http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/
2007/1/31/4d82329a-9bc2-
41e0-984a-c56209515e65.html.

3 July 2007
A Pakistani official yesterday dismissed reports that Abdul Qadeer Khan, former head of the nation's nuclear program and a global nuclear trafficking ring, had been released from house arrest, United Press International reported (see GSN, July 2). "There is no change in Khan's status," said Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam, according to the Voice of America. "He continues to lead a quiet life with his family," she added.
--"Pakistan Denies Ending Khan's House Arrest" Global Security Newswire http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/
issues/2007/7/3/c0664131-27da-
4582-a50a-d2c45c19bc5e.html.

24 August 2007
Pakistan plans to build a new uranium enrichment complex that would be dedicated to producing fuel for the nation's domestic nuclear power program, the Press Trust of India reported yesterday (see GSN, April 11, 2006). The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission would allow international inspectors to monitor the centrifuge facility slated to be erected in Kundian. The facility would enrich uranium to contain 3 percent of the uranium 235 isotope, a standard level for light-water reactor fuel, according to PTI.
--"Pakistan to Add Nuclear Fuel Complex" Global Security Newswire. http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/
issues/2007/8/24/9488bdb7-08fe-
4889-a4cc-8e8e60f15ac7.html.

31 October 2007
Pakistan on Monday called on the international community to evolve "a new consensus on disarmament and non-proliferation, which would encompass the new framework for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy". Addressing the UN General Assembly session convened to consider the "Report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations Munir Akram said: "We hope the UN Secretary-General will consider convening an international conference or a special session of the General Assembly, to evolve such a new consensus".
--"Pakistan calls for consensus on NPT" Dawn by Masood Haider, DAWN - Leading English Newspaper of Pakistan covering national & international news -Front Page; October 31, 2007
top12.htm.

8 November 2007
Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency Saturday and suspended the constitution after it appeared the nation's highest court might invalidate his recent election. His move resulted in waves of protests led by lawyers. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who recently returned to the country after several years in exile, also yesterday expressed concern that nuclear weapons might fall into extremists' hands, Agence France-Presse reported (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, Nov. 7). U.S. intelligence agencies are studying the potential for a nuclear weapon or fissile material to go missing amidst the chaos in Pakistan, the Los Angeles Times reported today.
--"Pakistani Nuclear Security Eyed by U.S." Global Security Newswire http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/
2007_11_8.html#03EC867B.

November 13, 2007
The Pakistan government refuted reports in the international media that questioned the security of its nuclear weapons. According to a foreign ministry spokesman in Islamabad, since 1998, Pakistan's nuclear weapons have been under firm multilayered institutional control with the appropriate organizational and administrative entities in place. Reacting to reports of external contingency plans, he also stated that Pakistan has sufficient retaliatory capability to defend its strategic program and sovereignty.
--"Pakistan has 'retaliatory capacity' to defend 'strategic assets' - spokesman," BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political, Lexis-Nexis.

November 20, 2007
The Pakistan government has confirmed reports of cooperation with the United States on securing Islamabad's nuclear weapons. But it has insisted that this cooperation has involved training activities and interactions to help strengthen surveillance programs. Equipment transferred to Pakistan has been termed as basic and is reportedly meant for tracing nuclear materials and to forestall any illicit transfers of these materials. Islamabad has insisted that the security of its nuclear assets is given top priority and that it is important for the most effective practices to be employed.
--" Pakistan Foreign Office source confirms US help in guarding nuclear weapons," BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political, Lexis-Nexis.

December 11, 2007
According to sources, China may provide Pakistan with five additional nuclear power plants, each with a capacity of 300-1000 megawatt. According to Western diplomats, Beijing has already agreed to give Islamabad 300-MW nuclear power plants as part of Chashma nuclear power project-I and II, and may also transfer two additional plants of the same capacity for phase III and IV of the Chashma project.
--"China may give five more N-power plants to Pakistan," Pakistan Tribune, December 11, 2007, Pakistan News Service - PakTribune
195414.

December 12, 2007
Two plutonium-based nuclear reactors near Khushab (Punjab) will be completed by 2009. The reactors will manufacture adequate material for military purposes, and are deemed too small for commercial purposes.
--Farhan Bokhari, "Pakistan remains on course to reach nuclear target by 2009," Jane's Defence Weekly, December 12, 2007, Lexis-Nexis.

December 14, 2007
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has issued an ordinance that provides a legal basis for the National Command Authority (NCA), the top decision-making body for the country's nuclear weapons program. The NCA has been in existence since 1999. The ordinance has to be ratified by the national assembly in the next six months. The ordinance formalized the president as head of the NCA.
--Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, "NCA Ordinance: Debate Awaited," Weekly Pulse, December 21, 2007, WEEKLY PULSE "Musharraf Assumes Nuclear Control," BBC News, December 14, 2007, BBC NEWS | News Front Page
south_asia/7144710.stm.

December 15, 2007
The National Command Authority, the top decision-making body on Pakistan's nuclear weapons met today and reiterated once again that it was capable of defending the country against any 'misadventure.' The NCA took into account concerns in the international media regarding the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons. The meeting also reviewed various projects related to Pakistan's nuclear capability and endorsed proposals for bolstering the country's deterrent capability.
--"Pakistan command authority says security 'foolproof'," BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political, Lexis-Nexis.

January 1, 2008
The Pakistani and Indian governments exchanged lists of nuclear facilities under Article-II of the "Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks Against Nuclear Installations and Facilities" between the two countries of 31 December 1988.
--"Pakistan, India exchange nuclear installations' lists," BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political, Lexis-Nexis.

January 10, 2008
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Dr. Mohammed El-Baradei has warned that instability and the political crisis in Pakistan could be exploited by Al Qaida to seize the country's nuclear weapons. In Islamabad, Pakistani government officials have rejected these concerns saying that there are no credible threats to the country's nuclear arsenal.
--Bruce Loudon, "UN fears for Pakistan nuke arsenal," The Australian, The Australian, News from Australia's National Newspaper story/0,25197,23029526-2703,00.html.

January 27, 2008
A top Pakistani official, identified later as Lt. Gen. Khalid Kidwai, in charge of Pakistan's nuclear weapons, has stated that the country's nuclear arsenal remains secure and has dismissed fears over the safety of these weapons and materials. Kidwai refuted the possibility of militant groups gaining access to Pakistan's nuclear devices. "We are conscious of this threat," he said. "As the military, we should be prepared for worst contingencies." However, he said that an attack by Islamic extremists on Pakistan's nuclear facilities was impossible, and if such an attack did take place, "it will be pre-empted through intelligence or we will be able to minimize the damage." At the same time he said that the "security alertness" around the nuclear program had gone up.
--Salman Masood, "Nuclear Arsenal Remains Secure, General Asserts," The New York Times, January 27, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/world/
asia/27nuke.html.

February 6, 2008
According to the Secretary General of Pakistan Muslim League-Q, Mushahid Hussain, nuclear scientist Dr. A.Q. Khan might be released after the national assembly election later this month. He said that, "I have all the hope that Dr Qadeer will be released after the elections and his rightful place in society will also be restored."
--"Pakistan leader predicts release of controversial nuclear scientist after poll," The News, February 4, 2008, BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political, Lexis-Nexis.

February 7, 2008
The head of Pakistan's Strategic Plans Division has stated that there is no ban on anyone meeting Dr. A.Q. Khan. The only condition is that Khan should consent to the meeting, according to Lt. Gen. Khalid Kidwai. He did not comment on the statement by Pakistan Muslim League-Q secretary general Mushahid Hussain that Khan would be freed after the national assembly election. Kidwai stated that there was no change in Khan's status.
--Saleh Zaafar, "Anyone Whom Dr Qadeer Wants To Meet Can See Him; His Status Not Being Changed: General Qidwai," Jang, February 7, 2008, BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political, Lexis-Nexis.

February 12, 2008
Two technicians of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission have been kidnapped by masked gunmen in Dera Ismail Khan district of North West Frontier Province, which borders Afghanistan. The local police chief stated that they did not know whether the kidnapping was carried out by militants or criminals. The technicians were on a project to map mineral deposits in the mountains.
--"Pakistan Nuclear Staff Go Missing," BBC News, February 12, 2008, BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan nuclear staff go missing.

February 20, 2008
US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen has stated that Islamabad's nuclear weapons are under protection of adequate safeguards to prevent militants from gaining access to the devices. His visit to Islamabad also involved briefings on safety and security procedures.
--Farhan Bokhari, "Pakistan's Weapons Are Secure, Declares Mullen," Jane's Defence Weekly, Lexis-Nexis.

February 24, 2008
According to Stanford University Professor Siegfried Hecker, North Korea has denied receiving any assistance in nuclear weapons technology from Dr. A.Q. Khan. In meetings with Hecker, Pyongyang dismissed Khan's confession in 2004 that he had transferred nuclear technology to North Korea. Pyongyang has insisted that there have been no dealings between North Korea and Pakistan on uranium enrichment technology.
--"A.Q. Khan did not transfer technology, say North Koreans, Dawn, February 24, 2008, http://www.dawn.com/2008/02/
24/top7.htm.

March 4, 2008
According to the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA), Pakistan is safe from the effects of harmful radioactive rays. PNRA Advisory Committee Chairman Dr Iqbal Hussain Qureshi stated that the organization had launched a campaign to make people aware of radioactive rays and preventive measures to combat their negative effects, even as Pakistan is moving toward installing more nuclear power facilities by 2030.
--"Pakistan is safe from hazards of radioactive rays: Experts," The Daily Times, March 4, 2008, Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
default.asp?page=2008%5C03%5C04%5Cstory_
4-3-2008_pg7_43.

Source

 

[ejaz007]

Indeed a very useful and informative thread. Keep up the good work.

 

[Neo]

Thanks mate, I'll cover March-August '08 as soon as I get updates.

 

[spliterz]

worth reading all pages, thank you for great post mate.

 

[Xtremeownage]

It's been over a year and a half... Any new information? for 2008-2010?

 

[VCheng]

It's been over a year and a half... Any new information? for 2008-2010?

PAEC does have new plans for several new NPPs, but most of the work is still in the planning stages.

 

[fangxiang]

Pakistan and the United States sign an agreement on cooperation concerning the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Under the agreement, the United States offers Pakistan $350,000 in aid to procure a pool type reactor.