Pakistan on August 25 successfully test-fired a new air-launched cruise missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The missile, named Ra'ad (meaning thunder in Arabic), has a range of 220 miles. Its test-firing brought into focus sustained efforts to upgrade nuclear weapons delivery capabilities in response to India, whose civilian nuclear agreement with the United States has been described by President Pervez Musharraf as a threat to regional stability.
There is little public information about Pakistan's nuclear facilities, but important assets (reactors, uranium enrichment sites, plutonium reprocessing sites, research and development centres, nuclear testing and weaponisation facilities) are located across the four provinces of Punjab, North-west Frontier Province, Baluchistan and Sindh. Having launched a civilian nuclear programme in 1955, Pakistan started trying to become a nuclear weapons state in 1972:
%u2022 Absent a strong technological base, it secretly looked overseas for skills and equipment. %u2022 Nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan procured secret centrifuge designs from a Dutch consortium in the mid-1970s. %u2022 Pakistan first successfully tested its nuclear weapons technology in 1998. %u2022 In 2003, it was disclosed that Pakistan had helped Iran, North Korea and Libya develop nuclear programmes, with Khan the focus of subsequent investigations. %u2022 After a swift Pakistani investigation, Khan confessed on television that "many of the reported activit
RE:PAKISTAN: Nuclear programme
by babu on Sep 03, 2007 03:28 PM Permalink
Khan was put under house arrest and the authorities introduced nuclear export control measures that conformed with International Atomic Energy Agency guidelines. However, several aspects of the Khan case remain unresolved, leaving lingering concerns about nuclear control and safety. The majority of individuals involved in the illicit transfer of nuclear weapons technologies (in Pakistan and Europe) have not been prosecuted successfully, making the possible re-emergence of a similar network a pressing concern.
Moreover, many reject the theory that Khan was a 'rogue element' operating on his own (as asserted by Musharraf in his memoirs). They contend that Khan -- who recently defeated the deeply unpopular Musharraf in a series of in mock presidential elections by up to 99% of the vote -- could not have functioned without some level of cooperation by Pakistani military personnel and intelligence services.
Their suspicions were fuelled by perceptions that his treatment by the authorities was lenient, and by the refusal of Pakistani authorities to grant US officials and Congress access to him. Safety concerns are particularly acute in the context of serious political instability and extremist violence that has raised the prospect of a split within the military -- which has effectively had direct control of the nuclear programme since 1977 (and the fall of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto). Civil-military tensions, weak and unstable political institutions and flawed decision-making processes
RE:RE:PAKISTAN: Nuclear programme
by babu on Sep 03, 2007 03:29 PM Permalink
Indeed, the presence of jihadist groups has implications for nuclear safety:
%u2022 There are signs that religious extremist organisations in Pakistan have nuclear ambitions (although there is no evidence that al-Qaida or its associated groups operating in the region have made any progress on acquiring nuclear expertise). %u2022 There is nuclear infrastructure in the North-west Frontier Province, which is ruled by conservative religious political parties and is adjacent to tribal areas where the Taliban are strong and al-Qaida have a presence. %u2022 Two suicide bombings in July hit an area in Islamabad close to important nuclear facilities.
The US-based Institute for Science and International Security in 2006 claimed that Pakistan is developing a large nuclear facility at Khushab (in Punjab) that will be able to produce enough plutonium to make 40 to 50 nuclear weapons per year. This has been disputed by government sources in Islamabad and Washington, but it is known that Pakistan is heavily investing in the nuclear sector.
While this reflects military objectives -- Pakistan is particularly keen to acquire the second strike capability which it currently lacks -- it is also to meet energy demands. Pakistan faces acute electricity shortages (which earlier this year led to serious protests) and hopes to substantially increase its nuclear energy generating capacity from around 19,500 megawatts per year.
A lack of certainty about the extent and nature of earlier proliferation activity makes
