WASHINGTON: Pakistan has addressed issues of survivability in a possible nuclear conflict through second strike capability, says a US congressional report . The first part of the report, published on Friday, deals with Islamabads efforts to develop new weapons, while the second part studies its strategy for surviving a nuclear war.
According to the report, Pakistan has built hard and deeply buried storage and launch facilities to retain a second strike capability in a nuclear war . It also has built road-mobile missiles, air defences around strategic sites, and concealment measures . The report prepared by the Congressional Research Service recalls that as the United States prepared to launch an attack on the Afghan Taliban after September 11, 2001, former military dictator Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf ordered that Pakistans nuclear arsenal be redeployed to at least six secret new locations . This action came at a time of uncertainly about the future of the region, including the direction of US-Pakistan relations . Indeed, Musharraf cited protection of Pakistans nuclear and missile assets as one of the reasons for Islamabads dramatic policy shift. But it now appears that it stemmed from new-found confidence that Pakistan has developed a second-strike capability .
Pak develops second-strike N-capability - The Times of India
The Khushab Complex is the main source of Pakistan's weapons-grade plutonium for its nuclear weapons program. Because Pakistan is an NPT-outlier, the complex is not under IAEA Safeguards. Khushab-1 is a 40-50MW plutonium production reactor, moderated by heavy water and utilizing natural uranium fuel. [1] Construction of Khushab-1—reportedly with Chinese assistance—began in 1987, and the reactor commenced operations in 1998. [2] Pakistan officially announced operations at Khushab-1 prior to its nuclear weapons tests. [3] Khushab-2 and -3 are estimated to be 50MW plutonium production reactors also moderated by heavy water. Construction on Khushab-4 is currently ongoing. It appears to be modeled after the Khushab-2 and -3 design, although the layout is somewhat modified. [4]
Once all four reactors are online, Pakistan can produce approximately 24-48 kg of weapons-grade plutonium a year. [5]
Pakistan is working to ramp up production at the complex so that it can build more miniaturised plutonium-based nuclear weapons, ISIS said.
Khushab Complex | Facilities | NTI
Pakistan closer to completing fourth nuclear reactor at Khushab | NDTV.com
In late 2006, the Institute for Science and International Security released intelligence reports and imagery showing the construction of a new plutonium reactor at the Khushab nuclear site. The reactor is deemed to be large enough to produce enough plutonium to facilitate the creation of as many as "40 to 50 nuclear weapons a year."
[75][76][77] The
New York Times carried the story with the insight that this would be Pakistan's third plutonium reactor,
[78] signalling a shift to dual-stream development, with Plutonium-based devices supplementing the nation's existing HEU stream to atomic warheads. On 30 May 1998, Pakistan proved its plutonium capability in a scientific experiment and sixth nuclear test: codename
Chagai-II.
[72]
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan 'building new reactor'
Pakistan's first nuclear tests were made in May 1998, when six warheads were tested under codename
Chagai-I and
Chagai-II. It is reported that the yields from these tests were 12 kt, 30 to 36 kt and four low-yield (below 1 kt) tests. From these tests Pakistan can be estimated to have developed operational warheads of 20 to 25 kt and 150 kt in the shape of low weight compact designs and may have 300–500 kt
[86] large-size warheads. - Wiki
Pakistan Nuclear History & Present – Project 706 | Rafaqat
The claims of 200kT for the Indian thermonuclear weapons are of the same origin just listed officially , its the capability of the warhead's design rather than what is available and operational at the moment . The real yields remain much lower in sub-kiloton region for both countries from the available data in the public domain for now . Pakistan doesn't appear to be lagging behind in the thermonuclear race as many seem to think here , the capability to produce TN warheads and increase the yield of the previous ones is present with the country . The fan-boys need to think and think again .