'Construction of atomic reactor stepped up'

US research institute says the new atomic reactor could help the country produce easier-to-deliver nuclear weapons.

WASHINGTON: Pakistan appears to have stepped up construction of a new atomic reactor that could help the country produce easier-to-deliver nuclear weapons, a United States (US) research institute said on Tuesday.

Progress has been observed at Pakistan's tightly guarded Khushab site, key to plutonium production, by the Institute for Science and International Security, a private US group critical of nuclear weapons.

In a September satellite images of the site in Punjab, the institute said it observed a completed row of mechanical draft cooling towers at a third reactor, where construction began in 2006.

It marks a faster pace than for the second reactor, where such towers appeared after six years of construction, it said. "Based on what I see in the image, it wouldn't surprise me if they started it up in 2011," said Paul Brannan, a senior analyst at the institute.

Western analysts believe that China assisted Pakistan in developing the Khushab nuclear site to produce plutonium, which can be miniaturised for cruise missiles. "Plutonium bombs give the ability to make smaller, lighter or more powerful weapons, and also more deliverable weapons, and I suspect that's what Pakistan wants," Brannan said.

Pakistan, which experts estimate now has up to 100 nuclear weapons, has been adamant that its nuclear weapons are in safe hands and President Barack Obama has publicly concurred.

But US hinted at its frustration on Tuesday at the United Nations, where Pakistan blocked resumption of negotiations for an agenda in global nuclear disarmament talks. Pakistan opposes the proposed Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty, which would limit access to highly enriched uranium and plutonium used to make nuclear weapons.

Rose Gottemoeller, the US Assistant Secretary of State in charge of arms control, warned "our patience will not last forever”.  “I have to tell you that I expressed some disappointment at the fact that the conference on disarmament over the last years has been less energetic in terms of pursuing its overall agenda," she said.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, visiting Washington in April for a nuclear security summit, said, “Pakistan has tight control over its weapons. The United States should offer civilian nuclear cooperation, the way it has with India."

Published in The Express Tribune ,October 7^th, 2010.