Pakistan appears to be building a fourth military nuclear reactor, signalling its determination to produce more plutonium for atomic weapons, a US-based think-tank said.
The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a think-tank specialising in nuclear proliferation issues, said it had obtained commercial satellite images from mid-january.
They showed “what appears to be a fourth reactor under construction at Pakistan’s Khushab nuclear site,” ISIS experts David Albright and Paul Brannan said in the Feb. 9.
“Pakistan is determined to produce considerably more plutonium for nuclear weapons.”
Pakistan’s mission to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, was not immediately available for comment.
Pakistan has made clear its opposition to global talks to ban future production of nuclear bomb-making material, arguing that existing stocks of plutonium and enriched uranium should be included to counter India’s advantage.
India is believed to hold about 100 warheads and Pakistan 70 to 80, according to the Washington-based Arms Control Association
The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a think-tank specialising in nuclear proliferation issues, said it had obtained commercial satellite images from mid-january.
They showed “what appears to be a fourth reactor under construction at Pakistan’s Khushab nuclear site,” ISIS experts David Albright and Paul Brannan said in the Feb. 9.
“Pakistan is determined to produce considerably more plutonium for nuclear weapons.”
Pakistan’s mission to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, was not immediately available for comment.
Pakistan has made clear its opposition to global talks to ban future production of nuclear bomb-making material, arguing that existing stocks of plutonium and enriched uranium should be included to counter India’s advantage.
India is believed to hold about 100 warheads and Pakistan 70 to 80, according to the Washington-based Arms Control Association
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