WASHINGTON - The United States on Monday confirmed but played down news reports that Pakistan is building a powerful new nuclear reactor and urged Islamabad not to use the facility for military purposes. “We have been aware of these plans and we discourage any use of that facility for military purposes such as weapons development,” White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters.
The Washington Post, citing US-based nuclear experts reported that the reactor could produce enough plutonium for 40 to 50 nuclear weapons a year, a 20-fold increase from Pakistan’s current capabilities. “Pakistan of course is outside the non proliferation treaty and therefore they do develop their capabilities independently,” Snow said.
The construction site is adjacent to PakistanÂ’s only plutonium production reactor, a 50-megawatt unit that began operating in 1998, it said. The dimensions of the new reactor suggest a capacity of 1,000 megawatts or more. |