Free Republic

China is providing assistance to Pakistan in developing its plutonium-based nuclear weapons programme, a Congressional report has told US lawmakers. Besides the conventional uranium-based nuclear weapons, said Pakistan has also pursued plutonium-based warheads since the 1990s and continues to produce plutonium for weapons, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in latest its report on the country's nuclear programme. "Pakistan has received Chinese assistance for its plutonium programme," said the report by CRS, the research wing of the Congress that regularly prepares reports in issues of interest by the US lawmakers. The 40-50 megawatt heavy water Khushab plutonium production reactor has...

Note: The folllowing text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release May 29, 2009 Statement by the President on Beginning of Negotiations on Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty There is no greater security challenge in the world today than turning the tide on nuclear-proliferation, and pursuing the goal of a nuclear-free world. I welcome today’s important agreement at the Conference on Disarmament to begin negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty, which will end production of fissile materials for use in atomic bombs. As I announced in Prague, a verified...

The appearance of nuclear weapons materials on the black market is a growing global concern, and it is crucial that the United States reinforce its team of nuclear forensics experts and modernize its forensics tools to prepare for or respond to a possible nuclear terrorist attack. Large quantities of nuclear materials are inadequately secured in several countries, including Russia and Pakistan. Since 1993, there have been more than 1,300 incidents of illicit trafficking of nuclear materials, including plutonium and highly enriched uranium, both of which can be used to develop an atomic bomb. And these are only the incidents we...