The Multan Heavy Water Production Facility is a small heavy water production plant, located in

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the List ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, with an original annual capacity of 13 metric tons. Equipment for the plant was partly obtained from

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in 1980. Official information about Multan is classified and not available to the public and media. What is publicly known is based on intelligence reports published by various intelligence agencies. The Multan facility, like some but not all other nuclear facilities in Pakistan, is not subject to

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

inspection. Security of the site and its inventory is professed by the Pakistani government.

Historical background

In 1960, then

Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) (Urdu: ) is a federally funded independent governmental agency, concerned with research and development of nuclear power, promotion of nuclear science, energy conservation and the peaceful usage of nucl ...

(PAEC) chairman Dr. Nazir Ahmed made a proposal to the chairman of

Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) ( ur, ) is a state corporation of Pakistan working under Ministry of Industries and Production. It was established in 1952. PIDC was created to set up industries in such fields where large cap ...

(PIDC) for the construction of a heavy water plant with production capacity of 50 kg of heavy water per day at Multan, in conjunction with a planned fertilizer factory. However, the PIDC did not immediately act on the PAEC's proposal. Dr.

Ishrat Hussain Usmani Ishrat Hussain Usmani () ‎ (15 April 1917 – 17 June 1992) , best known as I. H. Usmani, was a Pakistani atomic physicist, and later a public official who chaired the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) from 1960 to 1971 as well as ...

was head of the PAEC when construction of the plant began. The plant was constructed indigenously by PAEC and financed by Pak Arab Fertilizer (PAF). Construction of the plant began in 1962. Investment finance was provided by PAF during the 1960s. The plant was expanded in 1978. Project management was headed by PAEC chairman

Munir Ahmad Khan Munir Ahmad Khan ( ur, ; 20 May 1926 – 22 April 1999), , was a Pakistani nuclear reactor physicist who is credited, among others, with being the "father of the atomic bomb program" of Pakistan for their leading role in developing their nati ...

. Two further plants were designed and constructed under the guidance of Munir Ahmad Khan.

Fertilizer plant

The largest installation on the site is a fertilizer factory with an annual output capacity of between 140,000 and 117,000 tons of

ammonium nitrate Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, although it does not form hydrates. It is ...

, while a smaller fertilizer plant has an annual output capacity of 43,000 tons of

urea Urea, also known as carbamide, is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest amide of carbamic acid. Urea serves an important r ...

. In 1998, the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provin ...

decided to

privatize Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

PAF, which had previously been managed by the National Fertilizer Corporation (NFC). The Agriculture Engineering Institution was at the time affiliated with PAF.

External links

Multan Heavy Water Plant
Nuclear power stations in Pakistan Heavy Water Nuclear history of Pakistan Nuclear technology in Pakistan Government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Belgium–Pakistan relations {{Pakistan-powerstation-stub