Following the Partial Test Ban Treaty and the Outer Space Treaty, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union continued negotiating on nuclear issues. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was drafted and opened for signing in 1968. It went into effect in 1970, recognizing US, the UK, France, China and the Soviet Union as the only officially recognized states openly possessing nuclear weapons. (The Russian Union inherited the NPT recognition when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. China and France signed the Treaty in 1992.) These five nuclear states are also the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

            The purpose of the treaty was to work against the spread of nuclear weapons beyond the nations which currently possessed them, encourage the world-wide peaceful use of nuclear power and to move towards disarmament of all nations of nuclear and conventional weapons. The core of the agreement is to have “the NPT non-nuclear-weapon states agree never to acquire nuclear weapons and the NPT nuclear-weapon states in exchange agree to share the benefits of peaceful nuclear technology and to pursue nuclear disarmament aimed at the ultimate elimination of their nuclear arsenals.”

             Many believe that the most important aspect of the NPT and the one which should be emphasized over other provisions of the NPT is the Non-Proliferation issue. The enormous power of nuclear weapons and the fact that the damage and fallout from even a limited nuclear exchange could easily spread beyond the borders of the combatants makes the spread of nuclear weapons a very important global issue. Under the Treaty, The states with nuclear weapons agree not to give nuclear weapons to states which don’t have them or to encourage or assists such states in acquiring them. The states which don’t have nuclear weapons agree not to make them or try to acquire them or assistance to make them. There is also provision in the Treaty for the International Atomic Energy Agency to put into place safe guards and to monitor  states without nuclear weapons to insure that such states are not diverting resources from peaceful nuclear facilities towards weapons production.

            The section that deals with disarmament in the Treaty encourages the signatory nuclear weapons states to work in good faith toward ending the nuclear arms race and eliminating the arsenals of nuclear weapons as well as conventional weapons.  There has been a debate over the meaning of the section between the countries that have nuclear weapons and those that do not. The nuclear weapons nations claim that they are only obligated to work toward some disarmament agreement some day and that they have been carrying out reduction of warheads and missiles. The countries without nuclear weapons claim that the section requires that the nuclear weapon countries need negotiate a comprehensive disarmament treaty as soon as possible and that they are failing to move forward on such a treaty. Arguments continue over the linkage of non-proliferation to disarmament and the possible unexpected side-effects of the disarmament which has occurred.

            The non-nuclear states are entitled to assistance in developing peaceful nuclear power under the Treaty. One of the big concerns with this issue is the fact that enriched uranium is required for fueling many reactors. The fuel must either be purchased on the international market or enriched inside the country with the reactor. Some non-nuclear weapon nations have enrichment capabilities that could be turned to production of fissile material for nuclear weapons. Iraq was sanctioned by the U.N. for violation of NPT obligations. North Korea never fully complied with its NPT requirements and eventually left the Treaty to pursue a nuclear weapons program. Iran is currently being criticized and heavily sanctioned for non-compliance to NPT inspection requirements.

          Despite many problems and criticisms over the years, the NPT is generally regarded as the most important and successful international treaty on nuclear weapons. Only four countries are not signatories to the agreement. North Korea withdrew and has developed its own nuclear weapons. India and Pakistan have never signed the Treaty and both have nuclear arsenals and missile delivery systems. Israel has not signed the Treaty. It has not acknowledged that it possesses nuclear weapons but it is assumed to have a nuclear arsenal and delivery systems.

United States signs the The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons from americancorner.org.tw:

NPT Signing.PNG

               With the Soviet lunch of the Sputnik satellite in 1959, the world was thrust into the Space Race. The ability to launch objects into obit above the Earth was more than just a scientific opportunity. In the history of warfare, who ever holds the “high ground” is at an advantage. If weapons platforms were placed in orbit above the Earth, the nation that launched the platforms would have the ability to rain down destruction on its enemies in a matter of minutes anywhere in the world. With the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union and the rapidly developing arsenals of nuclear weapons, the early 1960s saw the rise of concern that either or both of the military superpowers might place nuclear weapons in orbit.

            In 1967, a treaty was drafted that dealt with various aspects of the exploration and exploitation of space. The official name of the treaty is Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. Informally, the Treaty is known as the Outer Space Treaty. The United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union drew up the Treaty, signed it and put it into effect as of October 10, 1967.

            The Treaty bans the signatories from sending nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction into orbit around the Earth. It also bans the placement on such weapons on the Moon, any other celestial bodies or anywhere else in space. The Treaty states the Moon and other celestial bodies may only be used for peaceful purposes and specifically states that there can be no use of such bodies for the testing of weapons of any kind, building of any military bases or fortification or for any military maneuvers. However, the Treaty does not prohibit the placement of conventional weapons in orbit. There has been research and proposals for weapons tailored for use from orbit that would be very fast and destructive but which might fall under the category of conventional weapons.

          The Treaty also states that all signatories shall recognize space and all celestial bodies as belonging to the whole human race and free for exploration and exploitation by all nations. The Treaty states that “outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means”. On the other hand, any object launched by any nation remains the responsibility of the launching nation and that nation is responsible for any damage or pollution caused by the object they launched. 

           Provisions were included for signatory nations to request information about and the right to consult on any intended launch by any other signatory nation. As of 2011, 100 countries have signed the Treaty and another 26 nations are in the process of ratifying and signing.

Soviet Sputnik satellite:

Sputnik.JPG

           By 1963, various nuclear powers had conducted multiple tests of nuclear bombs  in the atmosphere, on the ground and under water. The United States was conducting powerful thermonuclear devices during the 1950s and the Soviet Union exploded its first thermonuclear bomb in 1961. International concern over the effects of radioactive fallout out from these tests had been growing during the 1950s.

           The United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union had been negotiating on nuclear weapons under the auspices of the United Nations Disarmament Commission during the 1950s. Various offers were made by both sides on nuclear disarmament, nuclear testing restriction and conventional weapons. Around 1960, the U.S., the U.K. and the U.S.S.R. finally decided to detach the issue of nuclear testing from the general disarmament discussion.

            A major topic of debate was how to verify compliance. Underground testing was a special problem. The blast created a shock wave which could be confused with the shockwave generated by an earthquake. The U.S. and the U.K. wanted to have inspectors at nuclear facilities in all three countries. The U.S.S.R. felt that seismographs outside each country should be able to detect underground tests without the need for onsite inspectors. Finally, in 1963, Premier Khrushchev agreed to a test ban that would not include underground tests. After a decade of debate the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed by the U.S., the U.K., and the U.S.S.R in August of 1963.

          In 1965, the U.S.S.R was working on developing nuclear bombs for peaceful use such as creating artificial lakes, rerouting rivers and other big earthmoving projects. A shallow underground test was carried out with a one hundred and forty kiloton bomb. Most of the radioactive fallout that escaped above ground fell inside the U.S.S.R. but a small amount drifted east and was detected over Japan. The U.S. and other signatories complained because the Treaty stipulated that any radioactivity escaping from an underground test could not leave the territory of the country which conducted the test.  The matter was ultimate dropped.

         In 1970, the U.S. conducted a test of a ten kiloton atomic bomb at a depth of 900 feet at the Yucca Flat test range in Nevada. The explosion ruptured the soil in a way that had not been anticipated and a plume of radioactive dust and smoke escaped into the air. Radioactive fallout was carried over California, Idaho, Washington and Oregon and, ultimately, to Canada, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.

         Following the drafting of the Treaty by the U.S., U.K. and the U.S.S.R., other countries signed the Treaty as time went by. One hundred and twenty three nations have signed the Treaty. Another ten nations have ratified the Treaty but have not official signed it. Three nations, France, China and North Korea, have exploded nuclear bombs but have not ratified or signed the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

 Signing of the Treaty from www.cbto.org:         

Partial Test Ban Treaty.PNG

          In 1953, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered a speech titled “Atoms for Peace” to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. In the speech, Eisenhower  mentioned nuclear warfare but mainly focused on the potential for peaceful used of nuclear energy. He announced new U.S. program to supply equipment and information to institutions and nations worldwide to assist in nuclear research. Eisenhower reassured the world that the U.S. was dedicated to peace and letting other countries choose their way of life. He mentioned the problem of nuclear stalemate and affirmed that the U.S. would be dedicated to using its creativity for constructive purposed and not destruction.

          A propaganda campaign was launched by the U.S following the speech and it continued for years. Some analysts said that the main intention of the speech and the media campaign that followed was to counteract the public fear and horror triggered by the atomic bombing of Japanese cities. As the Cold War set in between the U.S. and Soviet Union and the Soviet Union developed its own atomic bomb there was increasing discussion of a possible nuclear war with the Soviets. The U.S. government  was moving ahead with nuclear weapons development and some say that development of commercial reactor for power generation were supported because they aided the weapons program.

          Another theory about the Atoms for Peace program is that it was aimed at our European allies. With fears of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe and the huge cost of defending Europe with conventional weapons and troop, the Eisenhower administration wanted to sell the Europeans on a cheaper nuclear defense shields against Soviet aggression. Convincing them that nuclear power was a safe economical alternative to convention fossil fuels for power generation would help in soothing their concern about U.S. nuclear weapons deployed in Europe.

          In spited of the positive tone of the speech, the official position of the Eisenhower administration was that only a massive U.S. nuclear arsenal would deter the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union adopted the same policy with respect to the U.S. Under Eisenhower, the U.S. nuclear arsenal rose from about one thousand warheads to over twenty thousand. Although his speech did result in exploration of peaceful uses for atomic energy and the creation of a world wide system of nuclear reactors for commercial power generation, many countries that did not have nuclear expertise acquired it and, in some cases, went on to create nuclear weapons.

          Ironically, the Atoms for Peace program helped both Iran and Pakistan develop nuclear research programs and nuclear reactors. Pakistan now has nuclear weapons and the world is worried that Iran will soon have them. In the end, it would have to be said that whatever the intent of that initial speech, the resulting impact that the program had on the world was to promote both the peaceful use of atomic energy and also to stimulate the creation of nuclear weapons in some belligerent countries that are destabilizing the international situation.

Atoms for Peace.JPG

              Iran is an ancient country known for most of its history as Persia. It has existed in one form or another for thousands of years. The original Zoroastrian religion was replaced  by Islam when Iran was conquered in 651 AD. The Iranians are predominantly members of the Shiite branch of Islam.

          Iran occupies a strategic location in the Middle of Asia bordering Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey and other countries as well as the Persian Gulf. It over six hundred thousand square miles in size and has a population of seventy five million. With huge reserves of oil and natural gas, it is a main supplier of fossil fuels to Europe and Asia.

          Anger over loss of territory to Western powers and granting of concessions to foreign countries spurred the Iranian Constitutional Revolution in 1906 to over throw the Shah and create a parliament. The ruling Qatar dynasty was overthrown by Reza Khan in 1925. He then instituted a number of reforms to modernize Iran. In 1941, the United States and Britain made him abdicate the throne in favor of his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi because Khan had close ties with Germany. In 1951 after that assignation of Prime Minister Ali Razmara, Dr. Mohammad Mosaddegh was elected Prime Minister by a Parliamentary vote which was ratified by Shah Pahlavi. Mosaddegh was enormously popular after he nationalized the Iranian oil industry and oil reserves. This angered the British who instituted an Iranian oil embargo. The British involved the U.S. in a plot to remove Mosaddegh. In 1953, he was arrested and removed from office. The U.S. began cooperating with Iran in the development of nuclear reactors for power generation as part of the Atoms for Peace program.

          Following the coup that removed Mosaddegh, the Shah gathered more and more power to himself. A powerful cleric named Ruholla Khomeini became a vocal critic of the Shah. He was arrested, imprisoned and eventually exiled. Eventually living in France, Khomeini kept in touch with revolutionary forces in Iran through audio tapes of his sermons and personal representatives. The Iranian people rose up against the Shah in 1978 and forced him to flee in 1979. Khomeini returned from exile to head the theocratic revolutionary government that came to rule Iran. U.S. and Iranian relations soured during 1979 and in November of the year, the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was seized and the staff taken prisoner by a group of students. Fifty two of the embassy personnel were held for 444 days and released after the election of Ronald Reagan to the U. S. Presidency in 1980. U.S. assistance in nuclear research and development in Iran ended with the taking of the hostages. Khomeini disbanded a secret nuclear weapons research program because he objected to nuclear weapons on religious grounds.

        Taking advantage of the disarray in the Iranian military, Saddam Hussein in Iraq attacked Iran. A horrible war raged for eight years during which time there were many casualties on both sides. Iraq was encouraged and assisted by the United States. Because of the bad relations between the U.S and Iran, the U.S. felt that the war between Iraq and Iran would seriously weaken Iran and prevent it from being a strong regional power hostile to the U.S. The war ended in 1988. After the death of Khomeini, nuclear weapons research was expanded in Iran. Iran’s first nuclear power plant was completed with assistance from the Russians in 2011. Iran has uranium mines and is known to have three uranium enrichment plants. Iran has said that it will continue to build reactors for power and develop more uranium mines.

         The International community is very worried that Iran is working on the creation of nuclear weapons. They have the technology and a number of facilities have been built underground to protect them from possible bombing. They also have a robust missile program that would allow them to send warheads to Europe, Asia, Russia, Africa and all of the Middle East. Iran claims that it is not pursuing nuclear weapons but refuses to all full inspection of all of its nuclear research facilities. Estimates of when Iran might have a working nuclear bomb vary from months to years.

         The leaders of Iran have made some very hostile and provocative statements towards Israel. Some Israeli leaders have responded by advocating attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities with the assistance of the United States. The situation is very fluid and there are fears that Israel may decide to strike Iran without any outside help.

Arak IR-40 nuclear reactor in Iran – Nanking2012:

Iranian Reactor.PNG

              Israel was founded as a Jewish state in 1948 when the British partitioned lands that it controlled in the Middle East following World War II. There had been tension between the Jews and the Muslims in that area for centuries. Following the creation of a Jewish state, open war broke out between Israel and its Muslim neighbors. The first Israeli Prime Minister was obsessed with nuclear weapons. He instituted projects and recruited scientists to explore creation of an Israeli nuclear weapons program. In 1952, the Israel Atomic Energy Commission was created.

              Israel established a close relationship with France in the 1950s and the two nations shared research and resources for the development of nuclear weapons. With French secret support, Israel began building a nuclear reactor and a reprocessing plant in the late 1950s. In 1955, Israel signed an agreement for construction of a U.S. reactor as part of the United States Atoms for Peace program. The Israelis used the construction of the US supported reactor as a cover for the construction of a much large reactor in the Negev Desert near Dimona with French help in 1958 The new French assisted reactor was capable of generating about fifty pounds of plutonium per year but the Israelis and the French claimed that it was for strictly peaceful purposes.

              The Israelis acknowledge the existence of the nuclear complex at Dimona but refuse to discuss whether or not they have manufactured nuclear weapons there. The Reactors became operational and capable of producing plutonium around 1964. When the United States became aware of the activities at Dimona in the mid 1960s, they demanded that Israel allow international inspection of the site. Israel agreed on the condition that the United States carry out the inspections. With advanced notice of the inspections, it was thought that the Israelis had time to hide any evidence of nuclear weapons production and the inspections were declared useless and halted in 1969. The United States concluded at that time that Israel did possess nuclear weapons.

             In 1986, a former technician at Dimona named Mordechai Vanunu fled to the United Kingdom and made public information about Israel’s nuclear program. It was determined at the time that Israel had enough material for twenty hydrogen bombs and two hundred fission bombs. Vanunu was eventually kidnapped by Israeli agents, returned to Israel, tried, convicted and held in prison for fourteen years.

           There have been protests and serious debates in Israel over the nuclear weapons program. Israel has never admitted that it has nuclear weapons and has publicly declared that it would not be the first nation to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East. The exact meaning of this public announcement has been hotly debated. Israel has planes, missiles and submarines which are thought to be capable of delivering nuclear warheads.

Israeli nuclear complex at Dimona:

Israel Dimona.PNG

           Following the Korean War, the treaty ending the war on July 27, 1953 contained a clause that said that neither North Korea or South Korean would introduce new types of weapons to the peninsula. This was generally understood to mean nuclear weapons. In 1956, the U.S. military decided to deploy nuclear missiles in South Korea and announced that it would no longer be bound by that provision of the treaty that ended the war. Despite condemnation by some members of the UN, in 1958, Honest John nuclear missiles and 280mm atomic cannons were sent to South Korea by the US. In 1959, nuclear tipped Matador cruise missiles were also deployed. These missiles could reach China and Russia which upset these communist nations.

           North Korea responded by digging massive underground bases and stationing their troops close to the border with South Korea so that any nuclear strike would endanger the South Korean and American troops as well. After the Cuban Missile Crisis between the Soviet Union and the United States in late 1962, the North Koreans no longer trusted the Soviet Union to honor its treaty obligations with North Korea if it was attacked by the South and the U.S. In 1963, North Korea asked the Soviet Union for help in developing nuclear weapons. The Soviet Union refused but did offer to help North Korea create a peaceful nuclear energy program. They completed North Korea’s first reactor in 1967. No other nuclear countries would share weapons technology with North Korea because they feared that North Korea would share such information with China.

          Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, North Korea sought a nonaggression pact with the United States. The United States refused to bilateral negotiations and demanded talks include Red China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. North Korea refused such six way talk. In 1994, an agreement was struck between North Korea and the United States for commercial reactors to generate electricity but they were never built. During the next decade, North Korea alternately cooperated and refused to cooperate with United Nation inspections of their nuclear facilities. They spent some periods of noncooperation producing plutonium. In 2000, a Swiss company signed a contract to build two nuclear reactors in North Korea. In 2004, a U.S. official visited North Korea and confirmed that plutonium reprocessing was being directed to the production of weapons grade plutonium.

         In 2006, North Korea announced that it had conducted a nuclear test. Both U.S. and Japanese seismologists detected an earthquake centered in North Korea that seemed to corroborate the North Korean announcement. In 2009, North Korea conducted a second nuclear test of a small bomb at the same location as the 2006 test. Around the same time, North Korea also tested two short range missiles.

         In 2011, A.Q. Khan, the man who stole nuclear secrets to help advance the Pakistani nuclear program claimed that he had personally transferred Pakistani nuclear technology to North Korea during the late 1990s. He claimed that the North Koreans had bribed senior Pakistani military officials to gain access to the nuclear secrets. The Pakistani government official denied the charges.

          Currently, North Korea has a variety of shot and long range missiles, with the longest range missiles being able to reach six thousand miles. It is estimated that North Korea may have as many as forty atomic bombs which could be fitted to their missiles as warheads.

North Korean Missiles (from Deutsche Welle):

North Korean Missiles.jpg

           Pakistan came into existence as an independent country in 1947 when the British Indian Empire was partitioned between Hindus and Muslims. The United States brought its “U.S. Atoms for Peace initiatives to Pakistan in 1953 and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister said that Pakistan did not have a policy about atomic bombs. Part of the U.S. initiative was a nuclear reactor for Pakistan. Pakistan established the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission in 1956.

            From 1956 to 1971, Pakistan pursued the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Pakistan knew that India was working on nuclear weapons but felt that the existence of even a peaceful nuclear program in Pakistan was a serious deterrent.

            Following the 1965 war between Pakistan and India which was largely fought in and over the disputed territory of Kashmir, Pakistan began to rethink its nuclear stance. Debate over the costs and complexities of a nuclear weapons program occupied the Pakistani government. In 1966 work began on a commercial Canadian reactor in Karachi. In 1969, Pakistan signed an agreement with the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Agency for construction of a plant capable of producing weapons grade plutonium.

            After the loss of Bangladesh and other territories in the war with India in 1971, Pakistan found itself without much international support and much less international influence and respect. The situation after the war and concern over the Indian nuclear program prompted Prime Minister Bhutto of Pakistan to convene a meeting of Pakistani scientists and engineers in 1972 to discuss the establishment of a Pakistani nuclear weapons program. Government agencies and projects were created to pursue nuclear research. The explosion of the first Indian bomb in 1974 accelerated the Pakistani program and triggered the launch of plutonium extraction and purification. Development was begun on the other components necessary to create a nuclear bomb. More physicists and engineers were recruited including Abdul Qadeer Khan who joined the Pakistani nuclear research program in 1976.

           A.Q Khan is a metallurgical engineer who was trained in Germany. He held a high level position with URENCO at their facility in the Netherlands. URENCO is an international nuclear fuel company which operates several uranium enrichment plants in different countries. In 1983, Khan was convicted in abstentia in the Netherlands with stealing blueprints for uranium enrichment from URENCO. He operated an international network to acquire classified information on nuclear weapons development from other countries.

           The Pakistani nuclear weapons program proceeded during the 1980s and 1990s. Five nuclear devices were detonated underground in 1998 in the Chagai district of Balochistan. The international community condemned the tests. India was also condemned from nuclear weapons development. Economic sanctions were imposed on Pakistan but the U.S. lifted its sanctions in 2000 when Pakistan agreed to help the U.S. in its “war on terror.” Pakistan currently has about one hundred nuclear warheads and missiles that have a range of over one thousand miles. The most likely opponent for a nuclear exchange with Pakistan is India. However, if either Pakistan or India bombed the other country, the winds in the area would spread the fallout  back on the attacker. It has been estimated that a limited nuclear war of a few hundred warheads such as possessed by Pakistan and India could trigger a nuclear winter that would impact the entire human race.

Pakistani Missile:

Pakistani Missile.JPG

           Pakistan came into existence as an independent country in 1947 when the British Indian Empire was partitioned between Hindus and Muslims. The United States brought its “U.S. Atoms for Peace initiatives to Pakistan in 1953 and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister said that Pakistan did not have a policy about atomic bombs. Part of the U.S. initiative was a nuclear reactor for Pakistan. Pakistan established the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission in 1956.

            From 1956 to 1971, Pakistan pursued the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Pakistan knew that India was working on nuclear weapons but felt that the existence of even a peaceful nuclear program in Pakistan was a serious deterrent.

            Following the 1965 war between Pakistan and India which was largely fought in and over the disputed territory of Kashmir, Pakistan began to rethink its nuclear stance. Debate over the costs and complexities of a nuclear weapons program occupied the Pakistani government. In 1966 work began on a commercial Canadian reactor in Karachi. In 1969, Pakistan signed an agreement with the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Agency for construction of a plant capable of producing weapons grade plutonium.

            After the loss of Bangladesh and other territories in the war with India in 1971, Pakistan found itself without much international support and much less international influence and respect. The situation after the war and concern over the Indian nuclear program prompted Prime Minister Bhutto of Pakistan to convene a meeting of Pakistani scientists and engineers in 1972 to discuss the establishment of a Pakistani nuclear weapons program. Government agencies and projects were created to pursue nuclear research. The explosion of the first Indian bomb in 1974 accelerated the Pakistani program and triggered the launch of plutonium extraction and purification. Development was begun on the other components necessary to create a nuclear bomb. More physicists and engineers were recruited including Abdul Qadeer Khan who joined the Pakistani nuclear research program in 1976.

           A.Q Khan is a metallurgical engineer who was trained in Germany. He held a high level position with URENCO at their facility in the Netherlands. URENCO is an international nuclear fuel company which operates several uranium enrichment plants in different countries. In 1983, Khan was convicted in abstentia in the Netherlands with stealing blueprints for uranium enrichment from URENCO. He operated an international network to acquire classified information on nuclear weapons development from other countries.

           The Pakistani nuclear weapons program proceeded during the 1980s and 1990s. Five nuclear devices were detonated underground in 1998 in the Chagai district of Balochistan. The international community condemned the tests. India was also condemned from nuclear weapons development. Economic sanctions were imposed on Pakistan but the U.S. lifted its sanctions in 2000 when Pakistan agreed to help the U.S. in its “war on terror.” Pakistan currently has about one hundred nuclear warheads and missiles that have a range of over one thousand miles. The most likely opponent for a nuclear exchange with Pakistan is India. However, if either Pakistan or India bombed the other country, the winds in the area would spread the fallout  back on the attacker. It has been estimated that a limited nuclear war of a few hundred warheads such as possessed by Pakistan and India could trigger a nuclear winter that would impact the entire human race.

Pakistani Missile:

Pakistani Missile.JPG

           Pakistan came into existence as an independent country in 1947 when the British Indian Empire was partitioned between Hindus and Muslims. The United States brought its “U.S. Atoms for Peace initiatives to Pakistan in 1953 and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister said that Pakistan did not have a policy about atomic bombs. Part of the U.S. initiative was a nuclear reactor for Pakistan. Pakistan established the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission in 1956.

            From 1956 to 1971, Pakistan pursued the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Pakistan knew that India was working on nuclear weapons but felt that the existence of even a peaceful nuclear program in Pakistan was a serious deterrent.

            Following the 1965 war between Pakistan and India which was largely fought in and over the disputed territory of Kashmir, Pakistan began to rethink its nuclear stance. Debate over the costs and complexities of a nuclear weapons program occupied the Pakistani government. In 1966 work began on a commercial Canadian reactor in Karachi. In 1969, Pakistan signed an agreement with the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Agency for construction of a plant capable of producing weapons grade plutonium.

            After the loss of Bangladesh and other territories in the war with India in 1971, Pakistan found itself without much international support and much less international influence and respect. The situation after the war and concern over the Indian nuclear program prompted Prime Minister Bhutto of Pakistan to convene a meeting of Pakistani scientists and engineers in 1972 to discuss the establishment of a Pakistani nuclear weapons program. Government agencies and projects were created to pursue nuclear research. The explosion of the first Indian bomb in 1974 accelerated the Pakistani program and triggered the launch of plutonium extraction and purification. Development was begun on the other components necessary to create a nuclear bomb. More physicists and engineers were recruited including Abdul Qadeer Khan who joined the Pakistani nuclear research program in 1976.

           A.Q Khan is a metallurgical engineer who was trained in Germany. He held a high level position with URENCO at their facility in the Netherlands. URENCO is an international nuclear fuel company which operates several uranium enrichment plants in different countries. In 1983, Khan was convicted in abstentia in the Netherlands with stealing blueprints for uranium enrichment from URENCO. He operated an international network to acquire classified information on nuclear weapons development from other countries.

           The Pakistani nuclear weapons program proceeded during the 1980s and 1990s. Five nuclear devices were detonated underground in 1998 in the Chagai district of Balochistan. The international community condemned the tests. India was also condemned from nuclear weapons development. Economic sanctions were imposed on Pakistan but the U.S. lifted its sanctions in 2000 when Pakistan agreed to help the U.S. in its “war on terror.” Pakistan currently has about one hundred nuclear warheads and missiles that have a range of over one thousand miles. The most likely opponent for a nuclear exchange with Pakistan is India. However, if either Pakistan or India bombed the other country, the winds in the area would spread the fallout  back on the attacker. It has been estimated that a limited nuclear war of a few hundred warheads such as possessed by Pakistan and India could trigger a nuclear winter that would impact the entire human race.

Pakistani Missile:

Pakistani Missile.JPG