SIPRI Yearbook 2010
VIII. Pakistani nuclear forces
Pakistan is estimated to possess 70–90 nuclear weapons that can be delivered by aircraft or ballistic missiles (see table 8.8). Its current nuclear arsenal is based on weapon designs using HEU, which is produced by a gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facility at the Kahuta Research Laboratories (also called the A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories), Punjab. There is considerable evidence that Pakistan is moving towards a plutonium-based arsenal. Plutonium-based warheads would normally be lighter and more compact than those using HEU to achieve the same yield. Such warheads could either be fitted onto smaller missiles, possibly including cruise missiles, or would give already deployed ballistic missiles longer ranges. The 50-megawatt-thermal Khushab I reactor, completed in 1998, is capable of producing about 10–12 kg of weapon-grade plutonium annually128. Pakistan is building two additional plutonium production reactors at the nuclear complex at Khushab, Punjab, one of which may have started operating in 2009129. These new reactors will increase Pakistan’s plutonium-production capability several-fold, provided that the country has sufficient capacity to reprocess spent fuel130.
- Citation (MLA):
- Kile, Shannon N., Vitaly Fedchenko, Bharath Gopalaswamy, and Hans M. Kristensen. "8. World nuclear forces." SIPRI Yearbook. SIPRI. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2016. Web. 16 Feb. 2025. <https://www.sipriyearbook.org/view/9780199581122/sipri-9780199581122-div1-77.xml>.
- Citation (APA):
- Kile, S., Fedchenko, V., Gopalaswamy, B., & Kristensen, H. (2016). 8. World nuclear forces. In SIPRI, SIPRI Yearbook 2010: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 16 Feb. 2025, from https://www.sipriyearbook.org/view/9780199581122/sipri-9780199581122-div1-77.xml
- Citation (Chicago):
- Kile, Shannon N., Vitaly Fedchenko, Bharath Gopalaswamy, and Hans M. Kristensen. "8. World nuclear forces." In SIPRI Yearbook 2010: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security, SIPRI. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016). Retrieved 16 Feb. 2025, from https://www.sipriyearbook.org/view/9780199581122/sipri-9780199581122-div1-77.xml
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