SAFETY OF
PAKISTAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Pakistanis now will pounce on the US Nuclear threat
initiative and gloat that Pakistanis are ranked one position higher than India
when it comes to the safety of nuclear materials, such facial comparisons
should be avoided since securing nuclear weapons is a grave matter that should
transcend nationalist concern. A bit of humility is called for. Pakistanis are
still ranked only upto 20 out of 25 countries of the world, which is nothing to
be proud of. They should look upon the improvements of their nuclear safety. They
have received increased scores for laws that provide more on-site protection of nuclear material
and better security reviews and figure even the smallest accident can lead to
mass evacuations and years, even decades, of problems caused by fallout ways to
do better. Concerns have recently been raised about two new nuclear reactors
being built in Karachi, which will be more powerful than all of their other
reactors combined, whose design is a new and untested and hence could prove a
safety threat.
Pakistan’s nuclear weapons will always be the subject
of international scrutiny both because of their past history of proliferation
and the fear that militant may be able to get their hands on nuclear material. The
latter concern is there are perennial stories in the US media about how Pakistanis
weapons could fall into the wrong hands. These worries are slightly overblown. The nuclear
command authority has so far proved competent at guarding the safety of his nuclear
technology and the command and control structure should prevent non-state
actors from ever acquiring nuclear weapons. Another hand, Pakistanis may safely
believe that the US is not about to grand them the same kind of nuclear deal as
it gave to India and they can expect worries about their arsenal to be aired
regularly. The greater concerns will arterials used and the procedures in place
to guarantee that all handling and transportation is safe. No matter how safe they
may think their weapons are, Pakistanis should still strive to do better onward
in coming future.
