Project-706, also known as Project-726 was a science effort codename of a project conducted during the Cold War and Russo-Afghan War whose objective was to develop Pakistan's first atomic weapon. The mainstream goal of the project was the development of an atomic bomb using Uranium technology. Despite the aim and focus of the project, Pakistani scientists and engineers gained expertise in the use of reactor-grade plutonium and successfully produced weapon-grade Plutonium by the early 1980s. The project was launched after the secession of East Pakistan as a result of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and Pakistan War in Bangladesh.
It was an effort which was led by Pakistan.[1][2] Project-706 refers specifically to the period from 1974–1983 when it was under the control of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and later on under the military administration of Major-General Zahid Ali Akbar Khan of the Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers. The project's roots lay in scientists' fears since 1967 that India was also investigating nuclear weapons of its own. Developing nuclear technology for Pakistan was a mainstream goal and a dream of Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who initiated the scientific research in 1972.[2]
Before the launching of Project-706 in 1974, the initial scientific research, starting from 1972, was directed and organized by renowned Pakistani scientist Abdus Salam. From 1974, the research was led by engineers Munir Ahmad Khan of PAEC and Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan of KRL. Time magazine has called Project-706 Pakistan's equivalent of the United States Manhattan Project.[2] The project cost US$450 million (raised by both Libya and Saudia Arabia) which was approved by Bhutto in 1972.[3]
Project-706 led to the creation of multiple production and research sites that operated in extreme secrecy and ambiguity. As well as research and development, the project was also charged with gathering intelligence on Indian nuclear efforts. The Project was honourably disbanded from its service when Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) carried out the first cold test of a miniature nuclear device on 11 March 1983. Scientists and Military officers who participated in the Project were given higher promotion in their respective services, and conferred with high civil decorations by the Government of Pakistan.
The history of Pakistani interests in nuclear sciences goes back to late 1948 when a large number of scientists, mathematicians, chemists, and physicists moved to Pakistan from India on the request of Prime minister Liaqat Ali Khan. The research in nuclear technology was encouraged by Mark Oliphant who, in 1948, wrote a letter to Muhammad Ali Jinnah to engage research in the peaceful use of nuclear technology.[4] According to Mark Oliphant, no other Muslim scientist was available in the subcontinent other than Dr. Rafi Muhammad Chaudhry, who could prove useful for the newly born country in the field of nuclear technology.[4] A letter was directed to Chaudhry, who migrated to Pakistan in 1948 and established High-Tension Laboratory in 1952.[4] On December 8, 1953, US President Dwight Eisenhower launched the Atoms for Peace program, where Pakistan was one of the first countries to sign the treaty. On December 8, 1953, the Pakistani media welcomed the proposed peaceful use of atomic energy, but Foreign minister Sir Zaf-rulla Khan stated that Pakistan did not have a policy towards the atom bomb.[5] In 1956, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) was founded and its first chairman was Dr. Nazir Ahmad, and Science Advisor to the Prime minister, Dr. Salimuzzaman Siddiqui served agency's first Technical (member). In 1958, the PAEC drafted a proposal to the military government of Field Marshal Ayub Khan for the acquisition of either the Canadian NRX heavy water reactor or the CP-5 reactor, at the Argonne National Laboratory. However, Ayub Khan's military government vetoed the proposal.[6]
In March 1958, Nazir Ahmad made another proposal to the chairman of the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) for setting up a heavy water nuclear plant with a production capacity of 50 kg of heavy water per day at Multan in conjunction with a planned fertilizer factory. However, the PIDC did not act on the PAEC's proposal. Field Marshal Ayub Khan rejected the proposal and instead transferred Dr. Nazir Ahmad immediately to the Federal Bureau of Statistics. In March 1959, the PAEC entered an agreement with United States Atomic Energy Commission, in which the United States agreed to provide a 5 MW pool-type reactor. In 1960, a bureaucrat named Dr. Ishrat Hussain Usmani succeeded Ahmad as chairman of the PAEC. Usmani played a pivotal role in the construction and development of Karachi Nuclear Power Plant by setting up uranium and plutonium exploration committees throughout the country. Many nuclear research institutes were also established, and work was begun to set up surveying the suitable sites for nuclear power plants.
In 1965, Science Advisor to the Government Dr. Abdus Salam traveled to United States to sign an agreement with the government of United States to provide a research reactor in Rawalpindi. In United States, Salam also held meeting with Edward Durell Stone, where he signed another contract.[7] It was under Abdus Salam's leadership that Stone designed and then led construction of a nuclear research institute in Nilore.
The same year, the PAEC entered another agreement with General Electric of Canada to build a 137 MW Nuclear power plant at Karachi. In 1967, Abdus Salam urged Field Marshal Ayub Khan to acquire a nuclear fuel reprocessing facility from the United States, but Ayub Khan and his Finance minister, Muhammad Shoaib, had denied Salam's request.[8][9]
After the 1965 India-Pakistan War, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Foreign minister at that time, began to lobby for a nuclear weapons option.[10] In October 1965, Bhutto visited Vienna to attend the International Atomic Energy Agency meeting. While there, he met with Munir Ahmad Khan, and other Pakistani scientists working at IAEA. Pakistani IAEA scientists briefed Bhutto on the rapid development of Indian nuclear programme. According to Munir Ahmad Khan, the nuclear facility at Trombay consisted of a plutonium production reactor, a reprocessing plant, and other facilities associated to weapon production.[citation needed] Bhutto quickly arranged a meeting with Ayub Khan. After this meeting, Ayub Khan remained unconvinced, and rejected the proposal made by Munir Ahmad Khan. Khan notified Bhutto immediately and told him about what had happened.
After learning what happened, Bhutto famously replied, "Don't worry. Our turn will come".[11] In 1967, a team of Pakistani scientists, under Rafi Muhammad Chaudhry, produced the first batch of radioisotopes at the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology.[12] The research in nuclear technology at PINSTECH began to pick up speed, and Abdus Salam began to supervise Pakistani research institutes.[13]
In 1968, research on theoretical physics had begun at the newly created Institute of Physics (IP). The IP was established in the small department of physics at the Quaid-e-Azam University (as of today, the IP and the department of physics has been expanded). Pakistani theoretical physicists, such as Faheem Hussain, Peter Rotolli, John Mumtaz, Fayyazuddin, Ishfaq Ahmad, and Masud Ahmad, had begun research on theoretical and quantum physics.[14] Faheem Hussain became the first physicist at IP to published research analysis on string theory. Later on, the Relativity Group under Fayyazuddin carried out work on the Bethe-Bloch theory.[15] In 1969, Raziuddin Siddiqui established Einstein's Physics Group (EPG) and carried out experiments on general relativity and quantum mechanics.
In March 1970, the general elections were held in Pakistan under the Military government of General Yahya Khan. The electoral results triggered the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan. Meanwhile, the political situation in West Pakistan was further deteriorating, and tension momentarily grew between the East and West Pakistan. A military action in East Pakistan called Operation Searchlight opened a series of bloody counter-insurgency operations led by the defected Bengali dissidents of Pakistan Armed Forces. Later, India intervened in the conflict as covert operations were successfully led by the Indian intelligence agencies.
This was followed by Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, a war in the western front. Pakistan, now fighting on both fronts, lost the war after only 13 days. The war with India and East-Pakistan had caused the collapse of the military government of Yahya Khan, and dissolution of United Pakistan.
On the western front, the central military government of General Yahya Khan also collapsed and lost control over the country. The Pakistani economy was further crippled as an economical outcome of the war. The Indian Navy had severely damaged and destroyed main sea ports of Pakistan, and the business, social, and economic infrastructure of Karachi was demolished during the war. On December 16, 1971, East Pakistan seceded as the independent state of Bangladesh.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Pakistan had lost a significant amount of territory as well as geopolitical and economic influence in South-Asia. The size of the Military of Pakistan and the civil population dramatically and exponentially decreased. Pakistan lost half its Navy, a quarter of its Air Force and a third of its Army as well as losing millions of citizens to newly created Bangladesh.
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Under pressured by the public and media, Military Government's Combatant Headquarters, the GHQ, surrendered to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. As Zulfikar Ali Bhutto came into political power, governmental nuclear organizations came under control of Bhutto. In early January 1972, the year after the war, the ISI learned that India was close to developing an atomic bomb. Bhutto called Munir Ahmad Khan from Vienna and immediately removed Ishrat Hussain Usmani as the chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. Dr. Abdus Salam, Science Advisor, managed a meeting of senior scientists and officials of PAEC.[16] On January 20, 1972, at Multan, Abdus Salam managed a meeting of senior scientists of PAEC, where Bhutto asked Nuclear engineer Munir Ahmad Khan of the International Atomic Energy Agency to take the charge of the nuclear weapons program.[citation needed]
On December 1972, Nobel laureate Abdus Salam began to initiate the work on nuclear weapons. Abdus Salam called two of his students, Riazuddin and Masud Ahmad working at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) to report to Munir Ahmad Khan.[17] Theoretical physicists at Institute of Physics (IP) of Quaid-e-Azam University began to report back to Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. Theoretical physicists at IP formed the "Theoretical Physics Group (TPG)", which was mandated to develop the design of Pakistan's nuclear weapons.[17] Dr. Abdus Salam played an integral role in TPG, and had done the groundbreaking work for the "Theoretical Physics Group", which was initially headed by Salam until 1974.[18] The TPG took the research in Fast neutron calculations—the key to calculations of critical mass and weapon detonation. The TPG began to report directly to Dr. Abdus Salam and research was undertaken under his supervision.[19] The TPG examined the problems of neutron diffraction, the theory of Simultaneity, hydrodynamics, and what kind of and how much fissile material and reflectors would be used.[20] In 1973, Bhutto appointed Raziuddin Siddiqui as Technical member of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, and made him responsible for the preparation of its charter. Raziuddin Siddiqui, a theoretical physicist, established the Mathematical Physics Group (MPG) that took charge to carried out research in calculations on MC Integrals, cross section theory, critical mass theory, and mathematics involved in general theory of fission reactions.[21]
Educated at the Argonne National Laboratory,[22] Munir Ahmad Khan and Abdus Salam called a meeting to initiate a work on an atomic weapon in March 1974 at the Pinstech Institute.[23] The meeting was convened by Abdus Salam and Riazuddin of the Theoretical Physics Group (TPG), Asghar Qadir and Munir Ahmad Rashid of Mathematical Physics Group (MPG), Ishfaq Ahmad and Samar Mubarakmand of Nuclear Physics Group (NPG), and Hafeez Qureshi and dr. Zaman Sheikh of Wah Group Scientists (WGS). During the meeting, the word "bomb" was never used, instead the academic scientists preferred to use scientific research rationale.[24] There, the scientists decided to develop an 'implosion' over the 'gun type fission device' citing economy in the use of fissile material.[25] The Plutonium and Uranium exploration committees, under Ishfaq Ahmad and Ahsan Mubarak, made discoveries of natural raw plutonium ores and Natural uranium deposits in the different areas of country.[26] The Nuclear Physics Group, formed in 1967, began to work to under Ishfaq Ahmad. The NPG analysis the problems on the converting 238U into 239Pu. In 1980s the NPG successfully produced the 10 kg of uranium. The NPG also manufactured and reprocessed the Plutonium isotopes at the New Labs, PARR-Reactor.[27] In March 1974, in a meeting led by Abdus Salam and Munir Ahmad Khan, constituted a small directorate, code name Wah Group Scientists (WGS). Its members contained Hafeez Qureshi, director-general of Radiation Isotope Application Division (RIAD), and Dr. Zaman Sheikh, a chemical engineer from DESTO. The Wah Group Scientists began research on high precision mechanical and chemical components, physics calculation, high explosives and triggering mechanism.[28] The same month of March, Abdus Salam and Munir Ahmad Khan sat up a plant to manufacture fissile explosive lenses. In April 1974, Abdus Salam formed another group "Laser Physics Group" (LPG), headed by dr. Shaukat Hameed Khan.[29] The Laser Physics Group was charged to carry out research and discover process to separate NU into EU and DU. The LPG used advanced laser technologies, and examined the problems in molecular isotopic of separation of 235U—whether to use infrared or Ultra violet lasers— and Electromagnetic radiation and atomic spectroscopy— what would be its wavelength and how atoms separated and ionized.[30]
In early 1974, under the advise of Abdus Salam, PAEC formed another group, "Fast Neutron Physics Group", under Samar Mubarakmand. The Fast Neutron Physics Group (FNPG) took research in and examined the problems in the science of neutron, a subatomic particle. The Fast Neutron Physics Group calculated the numerical ranges of neutrons — how much power would be produced by the neutrons — and the efficiency of neutrons — determined the number of neutrons would be produced — in a device.[citation needed] The Fast Neutron Physics Group discovered the treatment process for the Fast, thermal and slow neutrons, and examined the behaviour of Neutron fluxes, and Neutron sources in particle accelerator installed at PINTECH. The Fast Neutron Physics Group used the R-process to determined the neutrons' behaviour in the fissionable device.
End of 1974, Pakistan's Parliament passed a bill with majority declaring Ahmadis to be non-Muslims after which Dr. Abdus Salam, a senior scientist, left Pakistan for Great Britain in protest. Now, in the absence of Salam, Munir Ahmad Khan continued the organizations. The Nuclear Engineering Division, under Bashiruddin Mahmood first sat up the 238U production facility and the construction began under Munir Ahmad Khan's guidance and direction.
Three years after Pakistan's defeat in 1971 Indo-Pakistani conflict, India, on 22 May 1974, carried out its first nuclear test, code named Smiling Buddha, near the Pakistan's Eastern Border in the Sindh Province. The nuclear test was a surprise and caused a great alarm at the Government of Pakistan. On May 19 of 1974, in a news conference, Bhutto said: India's nuclear program is designed to intimidate Pakistan and establish India's "hegemony in the subcontinent". He closed the news conference by saying "even if we have to eat grass, we will make nuclear bombs".[citation needed]
Around this time, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, a German-trained metallurgical engineer and nuclear weapon technologist, who had a distinguished career in the URENCO.[31] While at URENCO, Dr. Khan was considered a senior translator at the facility and had access into facilities most confidential sites.[31]
After the India's nuclear test, Khan wrote a letter to Bhutto in which he explained that he had expertise in centrifuge-based uranium enrichment technologies at URENCO in Belgium.[32] Bhutto directed the letter to Munir Ahmad Khan to arrange a meeting with Dr. A.Q. Khan. In October 1974, Munir A. Khan sent Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood to The Netherlands to interview Dr. Qadeer Khan. In December 1974, Khan returned to Pakistan to meet Prime Minister Ali Bhutto and PAEC Chairman Munir Ahmad Khan, where he tried to convince Bhutto to adopt his uranium route rather than plutonium route. Bhutto did not agree to halt the Plutonium route but decided on the spot to place Khan in charge of the uranium program, which would be a parallel nuclear program.[31]
Dr. Khan initially worked under Bashiruddin Mahmood. But on 19 April 1976, Qadeer Khan wrote to Munir Ahmad Khan expressing that he was not satisfied and that he wanted to work independently. The letter was forwarded to Prime minister Secretariat. Dr. A.Q. Khan, with support from Prime Minister Bhutto, formed the Engineering Research Laboratories, which later became known as the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL). As PAEC, the KRL was under direct control of Prime Minister Bhutto and A.Q. Khan reported directly to Prime Minister Bhutto. Dr. A.Q. Khan disliked the idea of PAEC getting involved in ERL project, instead he favoured Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers to lead the program. The work on ERL was initiated by Bhutto, and the project was assigned to Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers.
As per the recommendation of A.Q. Khan, the Engineer-in-Chief of Corps of Engineers selected Brigadier Zahid Ali Akbar, who was renowned for the construction of The GHQ; headquarter of Pakistan Army's Combatant Command, as the head of the project. Brigadier Zahid Ali Akbar led the accelerated construction of the facility, and began to co-administrator the program, alongside with Bhutto. Impressed by his work at Kahuta, Bhutto gave him additional and secretive assignments to be initiated for both PAEC and KRL. An office was set up in Prime minister's Secretariat for Brigadier Akbar, and he kept Bhutto informed about the construction of the ERL.
Throughout the years, A.Q. Khan established an administrative proliferation network through Dubai to smuggle URENCO nuclear technology to Khan Research Laboratories. He then established Pakistan's gas-centrifuge program which was also loosely based on the URENCO's Zippe-type centrifuge.[33][34][35][36][37]
By September 1976 a one hundred acre site near Kahuta was personally selected which Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan claimed in his columns.[38] As the site was selected, Prime Minister Bhutto assigned this project to Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers to lead construction of the facility. Brigadier Zahid Ali Akbar Khan, who himself is a system engineer, was serving at the rank as of one-star rank of Brigadier at the time when he was selected by Corps of Engineers, per Bhutto's request.[39] Bhutto ordered Chief of Army Staff General Tikka Khan that Akbar be promoted to two-star major-general, as it was felt that the title "general" would sway with the academic scientists working on the confidential projects. Now a two-star general, Zahid Ali Akbar Khan led the constructions of both Metallurgical Laboratory in Wah Cannt (ML), and uranium enrichment plant in Kahuta,.[38][39]
Conducting a classified projects and maintaining a leadership in the programmes required Bhutto to form a committee that would be responsible for maintaining coordination and order in the projects that the academic scientists were working on.[40] In 1974, Bhutto appointed the civil engineer Dr. Mubashir Hassan as the head of the committee.[40] Mubashir, with Munir Ahmad Khan, stricken the policy that prevented the nuclear proliferation at first.[40] Before the arrival of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, Mubashir was encouraging academic scientists to developed the classified technologies ingeniously.[40] Hassan supervised the construction of the nuclear research laboratories, facilities and testing laboratories throughout the country.[40] With little influence of military, Hassan was proponent of establishing nuclear facilities.[40] Scientists were directly reporting to Dr. Hassan and other civil officers, but final report was submitted to Hassan, who would late brief Bhutto over the progress.[40] After the arrival of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, Dr. Khan tried to work Dr. Hassan and Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, but was dissatisfied with constant involvement of Dr. Hassan, who would continued to look at Dr. Khan's suspected activities in Europe and elsewhere.[40] In 1975, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan succeeded to meet with Bhutto in private and requested a military department to supervise his work rather than dr. Hassan's supervision.[40] Throughout the 1975 until 1977, the military had little presence at first and only involved in a small scale programme with Abdul Qadeer Khan.[40] However, this civil committee was disbanded by General Zia-ul-Haq as he removed Dr. Mubashir Hassan and placed him in Central Jail Ralwalpindi with Bhutto in 1977.[40] The same year, the military took control of the programme and military, for the first time, was involved in every aspect of the programmes. In 1979, after the removal of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Major-General Akbar assumed the command of Project-706 on September 26.[41] A military engineer by profession, Khan administratively established military engineer groups in his Corps. He led the quick construction of the Electrical and Vacuum Laboratory (EVL) as well as building the city of Kahuta. Throughout the years, Major-General Akbar served as the director-general the Kahuta facility.[39][42] By the 1983, Akbar was promoted to three-star rank of lieutenant general as the military wanted a suitable administrator who understood the scientific needs of the project comprehensively. The same year, Akbar was also given command of the Pakistani Army Corps of Engineers in order to recruit senior people whose cooperation were required.[39]
Lieutenant-General Akbar established a military unit to provide logistic support to both PAEC and KRL. Known as "Special Works Development (SDW)", responsible for the rapid construction of facilities, consisting Brigadier Muhammad Sarfaraz. In 1977, Prime minister Bhutto established a military committee to maintain military administrative leadership in project. The Military Engineering Committee (MEC) was led by Major-General Zahid Ali Akbar, and had Major-General Anis Ahmad — OC of Central Works Organization, Air Vice-Marshal (Major-General) Michael John O'Brian—AOC of Sargodha Air Force Base, Air Vice-Marshal (Major-General) Eric Gordan Hall—AOC of Chaklala Air Force Base, Brigadier Muhammad Sarfaraz—CO of Special Works Development, and Colonel Zulfikar Ali Khan—CO of 17th FWO Regiment.[43] Meanwhile, A.Q. Khan then established a proliferation network through Dubai to smuggle URENCO nuclear technology to Khan Research Laboratories. A.Q. Khan smuggled sensitive vacuum and technical equipments necessary for the enrichment technology. He then established Pakistan's gas-centrifuge program based on the URENCO's Zippe-type centrifuge.[33][34][35][36][44]
Dr. Khan was a uranium technologist who brought with him knowledge of gas centrifuge technologies that he had learned through his position at the classified URENCO uranium enrichment plant in the Netherlands. After General Akbar, Khan was put in charge of building, equipping and operating the Kahuta facility.[45] Dr. Qadeer Khan took over the centrifuge part of the Uranium Enrichment Program from Munir Ahmad Khan, while all other uranium related steps to making uranium gas for enrichment remained under Munir Ahmad Khan's responsibility. Bhutto also continued to retain Chairman of PAEC Mr. Munir Ahmad Khan as the head of Plutonium production, nuclear fuel cycle, uranium exploration, processing and conversion, nuclear weapons development and reactor programs.[45]
The locations of nuclear sites were more secure than the Prime Minister Secretariat, so the security was vigilant as the Government of Pakistan was aware of the United States, Soviet Union, and other foreign intelligence agencies trying to put in spies. According to the Brigadier Imtiaz Ahmad, United States had the ground intelligence and ISI has arrested a number of Soviet and American spies following the 1976. Brigadier Imatiaz also claimed in an interview with News International that he had conducted the military operation "Rising Sun" in 1979 that successfully thwarted a CIA plot to target Pakistani nuclear scientists and engineers who were closely associated with Pakistan's nuclear programme.[46] The operation concluded with the arrest and a life imprisonment of a Pakistani CIA agent, Rafiq Safi Munshi, who himself was working as a nuclear engineer at KANUPP, tried to wire classified atomic documents to the American consulate in Karachi. The operation ended with a declaration of a few undercover CIA agents and U.S. diplomats as personae non gratae and their return.[47][48]
On 26 June 1979, Pakistan's ISI foiled an attempt by the French Ambassador to Pakistan, Le Gourrierce and his First Secretary, Jean Forlot who were on a surveillance mission to Kahuta Research Laboratories nuclear complex on 26 June 1979. Both were intercepted and their cameras and other sensitive equipment were confiscated. Documents that were intercepted later showed that the two were recruited by the CIA.[49]
After the successful outcomes of Operation Opera, Israel planned an attack on the suspected nuclear facility in early 1980s.[citation needed] The M.I. and Air Intelligence (AI) of Pakistan learned the Israeli attempted operation. The Israeli Air Force's fighter jets flew close to Pakistan's northern border. However, due to alert, the PAF responded with an aggressive retaliation. The PAF's aggressor squadron's jets belonging to No. 11 Squadron Arrows intercepted the IAF jets and gained a missile lock on one of the Israeli jets. The Israeli jets were panicked and surprised by the resistance given by the PAF jets, and therefore pulled back immediately.[50] Soon after the incident, Munir Ahmad Khan met with Raja Ramanna of India. A high-level Pakistani mission was sent to Vienna where both country had signed an agreement promising not to attack or assist a foreign power to attack each others facilities.
Natural uranium consists of only 99.3% 238U and only 0.7% 235U, but only the latter is fissile. The rarer but chemically identical 235U must be physically separated from the more plentiful isotope. This process of uranium enrichment into weapon-grade is extremely difficult and sensitive, and requires advanced technology. However, A.Q. Khan's efforts helped him achieve this by illegally acquiring technology.[citation needed]
Before Khan's arrival, a Coordination Board was set up to manage and supervise the Projects' uranium-route.[51] Sultan Bashiruddin Mehmood of the Nuclear Engineering Division, was made the project director. Dr. Khan took over the project from Mahmood as he wanted to work alone. This Board was composed of A G N Kazi, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Agha Shahi, and Munir Ahmad Khan. The Pakistan Defence Forces also had established their own boards to support the engineering research activities throughout the country. However, the ERL continued to remain under the overall supervision of PAEC till 1977 after which it was separated and made independent, but throughout the subsequent years and the 1980s, Munir Ahmad Khan continued to serve as a member and later as head of the Uranium enrichment project's Coordination Board.[51] The PAEC sat its own uranium enrichment program to developed advanced version for uranium fuel. The PAEC had worked on the most challenging method of isotope separation Molecular laser isotopes, Gaseous and Thermal diffusion.[52] All of these methods were developed and supervised under Shaukat Hameed Khan of the Laser Physics Group (LPG) and Sultan Bashiruddin Mehmood of the Nuclear Engineering Division (NED). At PAEC, the Laser Physics Group, under the direction of Shaukat Hameed Khan, developed the MLIS process for the isotopes separation. Meanwhile, the PAEC continued its support to Engineering Research Laboratories. The PAEC produced 6UF and provided its feedstock to KRL while the PAEC had used 6UF in both of their developed Gas and Thermal diffusion methods in their enrichment laboratories.[53] In 1978, the PAEC had eliminated the MLIS method as secondary process due to its difficulty and complexity. A.Q. Khan's stolen gas centrifuges also became a reason that PAEC was not supported to continue its work on MLIS method as secondary process.[citation needed] However, the PAEC did not completely abandoned the work on MLIS method instead it was continued for the research purposes only under Shaukat Hameed Khan. In 1982, the MLIS method was used to separate plutonium isotopes at the Neutron Activation Analysis Laboratory of the PINSTECH. For this, Shaukat Hameed Khan was conferred with a civil award by the president.
Dr. A.Q. Khan's designed the centrifuges loosely based on Zippe-type gas centrifuges.
The A.Q. Khan's stolen classified drawings and documents of the centrifuge machines were incomplete and uncorrected, as they were identified by Ghulam Dastagir Alam, a theoretical physicist heading the centrifuge team.[citation needed] Initially, the KRL scientists suffered many setbacks and were unable to developed the machine. While visiting at the Physics Hall of Qau, Alam met with Tasnim Shah, a professor of mathematics at Qau.[54] Alam introduced Shah with KRL scientists where they examined the problems. It was followed by forming Computation Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Division. The CFD Division analyzed the problems of the SWU — measuring the amount of work done by the centrifuge, and Centrifugal acceleration — how many rpm would a machine covered, and Rotational dynamics — what would be its appropriate rotational speed. Tasneem Shah gained fame when he independently discovered the problems, and assisted KRL scientists to developed the powerful version of the centrifuges.[55]
As the problems were resolved, Dr. Khan began the enrichment operations. By the start of 1983, the KRL had developed around 1500-2900 gas centrifuges loosely based on Urenco Group.[3] It was dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan's effort that on 4 June 1978, scientists working in the Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL) succeed in enriching uranium by Electromagnetic isotope separation of 238U and 235U isotopes at the then-Pakistan Air Force controlled-Chaklala Air Force Base Centrifuge Laboratory (CACL). Dr. Ghulam Dastagir Alam, who co-headed the isotope separation project, informed dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan. Dr. Khan immediately went to GHQ to informed General Zia-Ul-Haq.
By the end of 1983, ERL/KRL under Dr. Qadeer Khan, claimed to carried out the first cold test of a single nuclear device but it seems that this effort did not prove to be successful since the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission led by Munir Ahmad Khan had carried out the first cold test of a working nuclear device on 11 March 1983.
Despite the research and development effort was putting to developed an atomic device, the Plutonium route was never a part of Project-706. And, PAEC had separated the Plutonium route from the Project-706. The climax and the main focus of Project-706 was to build the Kahuta facility as well as the atomic bomb by using the centrifugal technology that was illegally acquired by the Dr. Qadeer Khan from URENCO GROUP. On many different occasions, Dr. Khan had objected the Munir Ahmad Khan's work, and unsuccessfully tried to remove Munir Khan from the research and development as A.Q. Khan wanted the government to focus on his method only.[citation needed] After the dismissal of Bhutto Government, Lieutenant-General Zahid Ali Akbar became the in charge of the Project, supervising both PAEC and KRL research developmental work. General Zahid Ali Akbar led the accelerated construction of a plutonium reactor in Rawalpindi which was designed by Hafeez Qureshi. In 1981, the reactor went critical under Iqbal Hussain Qureshi.[citation needed] The reactor was put on test in early 1980s and was processed at ~50% efficiency; the reactor produced the first batch of weapon-grade plutonium.[citation needed]
In 1976, A.Q. Khan was unable to convince Bhutto to halt the Plutonium route.[56] Against the wishes of Khan, the work on plutonium separation process and conversion of uranium into plutonium was taking place under Munir Ahmad Khan.[citation needed] Meanwhile, a team of nuclear chemists of Nuclear Chemistry Division (NCD), under Dr. Iqbal Hussain Qureshi, considered the problem of how plutonium could be separated from uranium when its chemical properties were not known. Nuclear chemists were able to find a separation process, and balanced the first equation for the nuclear weapon at PAEC. The PAEC had work on the difficult and most challenging plutonium separation process which was developed by both Ishfaq Ahmad and Iqbal Hussain Qureshi. At New Labs, the PAEC produced the reactor-grade plutonium isotopes, and reprocessed them into weapon-grade.[57] The breakthrough with plutonium experiment was at the PINSTECH Laboratory by Iqbal Hussain Qureshi of NCD and Ishfaq Ahmad of Nuclear Physics Group (NPG). The scientists realized that a slow neutron reactor fuelled with uranium would theoretically produce substantial amounts of 239Pu as a by-product. The experiments also showed theoretically feasible grounds that element 94 would be readily fissionable by both slow and fast neutrons, and had the added advantage of being chemically different from uranium, and could easily be separated from it.[58] After the discovery, the PAEC used Shaukat Hameed Khan's MLIS method to separate plutonium isotopes at Neutron Facility at PINSTECH. From 1974, Shaukat Hameed Khan had continuously worked on this complex and difficult method and successfully used the method to separate the isotopes of plutonium. For this achievement, Shaukat Hameed Khan was conferred with high-civil award by the President. On the contrary to popular perception, the plutonium route did not forego and pursued it along with the uranium route. Unlike, Dr. A.Q. Khan, the PAEC scientists and engineers under Munir Ahmad Khan developed the indigenous capability to develop the programme. The scientists and engineers brought together their experiences that they had gained working in European and American nuclear firms, and designed reprocessing plants, weapons laboratories, enrichment techniques and production of weapon grade plutonium.[citation needed]
In March 1983, only senior scientists and high civil and military officials were invited to witness the cold test of a working nuclear device. In March 1983, the Corps of Engineers, under General Akbar, cleared the underground tunnels and a PAEC's diagnostic team headed by Dr. Samar Mubarakmand arrived on the nuclear test site with trailers fitted with computers and diagnostic equipment. This was followed by the arrival of the DTD Group and the Wah Group Scientists (WGS) with the atomic device, in sub-assembly form. This was assembled and then placed inside the tunnel. A monitoring system was set up with around 20 cables linking various parts of the device with oscillators in diagnostic vans parked near the Kirana Hills.
On 11 March 1983, PAEC, successfully tested the non-weapon grade plutonium device in Kirana Hills under the leadership of Munir Ahmad Khan with Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad heading the test team.[59][60] The 10 kg non-weaponized grade 239Pu, and the natural uranium came from New-Labs at PINSTECH institute, and the detonation system of the implosion devices was developed at the Directorate of Technical Development (DTD) of PAEC under the leadership of Hafeez Qureshi.
The successful cold fission test was witnessed by PAEC chaiman Munir Ahmad Khan, General Khalid Mahmud Arif, Air Vice-Marshal (Major-General) Michael John O'Brian, and then-Chairman of Senate, Ghulam Ishaq Khan.[61] The nuclear device was indigenously developed by the PAEC's research wing, Directorate of Technical Development (DTD), headed by Mr. Muhammad Hafeez Qureshi.[61][62] Also, it was Qureshi's designed and developed plutonium-based nuclear device, which was developed during the period of 1980s under the umbrella of Project-706. Pakistan, under the leadership of Dr. Samar Mubarakmand, tested the two nuclear device on 30 May 1998 at the Kharan desert, with the codename Chagai-II.[63]
According to Time Magazine, Pakistan received hundreds of millions of dollars for Project-706 from Libya. In return, Libya sent scientists to study Pakistan's enrichment advances. Nominally, the Libyan payments were made in return for Pakistani military assistance.[64]
Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto invited Libya to join Project-706 as Libya was the sole financier of Pakistan's Project-706. Libya also hoped that by following Pakistan's Project-706; Libya could have its own nuclear weapon program[citation needed]. Libya responded to the invitation by preparing and sending its small team of nuclear scientists to the Pakistan's high-powered nuclear research institutions.
By the time Libya had joined the research, Bhutto, as an elected Prime Minister, was hung by the bloody Military coup d'état attempted by Chief of Army Staff Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. According to Time Magazine, General Zia initially opposed Bhutto's idea of Libya joining Project-706. So in 1977, after General Zia took over the government, Libya's connection with Project-706 was immediately cut. According to the Time article, General Zia personally disliked and distrusted Colonel Gaddafi. Zia quickly excluded Libyan scientists from Project-706, resulting in Libyans leaving Pakistan.[64]
General Zia also cut off the military aid to Libya by the end of 1979.[64] Pakistan, under General Zia's regime, found itself providing financial aid to its nuclear program. Ghulam Ishaq Khan played an important and major role in Pakistan's nuclear weapons research program. He also set up a financial agreement by the end of the 1980s. Despite this evidence, Colonel Gaddafi of Libya has stated that Libya never financially helped Pakistan's atomic program.[65]
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