05-13-2009, 02:24 AM
<b>Pakistan expanding its nuclear capability</b>
Internal struggle, construction of two reactors raise concern about arsenal<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Without any public U.S. reproach, Pakistan is building two of the developing worldâs largest plutonium production reactors, which experts say could lead to improvements in the quantity and quality of the countryâs nuclear arsenal, now estimated at 60 to 80 weapons.
What makes the project even more threatening is that it is unique.
âPakistan is really the only country rapidly building up its nuclear forces,â says a U.S. intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of the issue, noting that the nations that first developed nuclear weapons are now reducing their arsenals.
Moreover, he and other U.S. officials say, there long have been concerns about those who run the facility where the reactors are being built near the town of Khushab. They note that a month before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Khushabâs former director met with Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and offered a nuclear weapons tutorial around an Afghanistan campfire
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Internal struggle, construction of two reactors raise concern about arsenal<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Without any public U.S. reproach, Pakistan is building two of the developing worldâs largest plutonium production reactors, which experts say could lead to improvements in the quantity and quality of the countryâs nuclear arsenal, now estimated at 60 to 80 weapons.
What makes the project even more threatening is that it is unique.
âPakistan is really the only country rapidly building up its nuclear forces,â says a U.S. intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of the issue, noting that the nations that first developed nuclear weapons are now reducing their arsenals.
Moreover, he and other U.S. officials say, there long have been concerns about those who run the facility where the reactors are being built near the town of Khushab. They note that a month before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Khushabâs former director met with Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and offered a nuclear weapons tutorial around an Afghanistan campfire
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