Pakistan may have new nuclear site
Pakistan, which is already suspected to be expanding its nuclear weapons stockpile faster than any other nation, may be rapidly constructing a new centrifuge for a reprocessing site within the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in Kahuta, according to recent commercial satellite imagery.
According to IHS Markit, an analyst of business-intelligence information, the satellite imagery of a newly built site at the KRL, taken by Airbus Defence & Space on 28 September, 2015 and then again on 18 April, 2016 show the progress of construction at the possible new uranium enrichment complex near Kahuta.
IHS Markit noted that the area is approximately 1.2 hectares and is located within the secure area of the KRL, in the southwestern part of the complex.
“Roughly rectangular in shape and approximately 140 metres by 80 metres, it is surrounded by scrubland and trees that provide an additional measure of security on the ground,” the IHS report noted.
The latest report of covert nuclear weapons development activities in Pakistan comes in the wake of a long series of such observations made in the recent years, mostly from commercial satellite photography.
Last year a report by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a think-tank in the U.S., said that Pakistan may be accelerating the weaponisation of spent nuclear fuel through its plutonium reprocessing plant in Chashma in Punjab.
This week’s report said that in addition to being located near to the KRL, a known centrifuge facility, the new building shared similarities with known centrifuge facility structures built by the URENCO enrichment consortium in Capenhurst (in the UK), Almelo (in the Netherlands) and Gronau (in Germany). “This may be more than coincidence as A.Q. Khan, considered by many to be the founder of Pakistan’s nuclear programme, worked at URENCO before stealing centrifuge designs and returning to Pakistan to work on the country’s centrifuge programme,” said Charlie Cartwright, an imagery analyst for IHS Jane’s.
The group also noted that on 28 September, 2015, satellite imagery showed that work on a large building structure had commenced, with a multi-bay steel frame structure visible in commercial imagery.
The site is still under construction, IHS noted, which will continue for at least a further 12 months while plumbing, electrics and ducting for air conditioning installations are undertaken. As such, it is likely that the site will not be ready for occupation until at least late 2017 or early 2018.
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