Project-706, also known as Project-786 was the codename of a research and development program to develop
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 ...
's first
nuclear weapons
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
. The program was initiated by
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and Politician, statesman who served as ...
in 1974 in response to the Indian nuclear tests conducted in May 1974. During the course of this program, Pakistani nuclear scientists and engineers developed the requisite nuclear infrastructure and gained expertise in the extraction, refining, processing and handling of
fissile material
In nuclear engineering, fissile material is material capable of sustaining a nuclear fission chain reaction. By definition, fissile material can sustain a chain reaction with neutrons of thermal energy. The predominant neutron energy may be ty ...
with the ultimate goal of designing a nuclear device. These objectives were achieved by the early 1980s with the first successful cold test of a Pakistani nuclear device in 1983.
The two institutions responsible for the execution of the program were the
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 ...
and the
Kahuta Research Laboratories
The Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, ( ur, ) or KRL for short, is a federally funded, multi-program national research institute and national laboratory site primarily dedicated to uranium enrichment, supercomputing and fluid mechanics. It ...
, led by
Munir Ahmed 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 ...
and
Abdul Qadeer Khan respectively. In 1976 an organization called Special Development Works (SDW) was created within the
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...
, directly under the
Chief of the Army Staff (Pakistan)
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) or Chief of Staff of the Army is a title commonly used for the appointment held by the most senior officer in several nations' armies.
* Chief of Army (Australia)
* Chief of Army Staff (Bangladesh)
* Chief of Staff of ...
(COAS). This organization worked closely with PAEC and KRL to secretly prepare the nuclear test sites in Baluchistan and other required civil infrastructure.
It was a major scientific effort of Pakistan.
Project-706 refers specifically to the period from 1974 to 1983 when it was under the control of former
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...
, and later on under the military administration of General
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...
. The program's roots lay in scientists' fears since 1967 that India was also developing nuclear weapons of its own.
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine has called Project-706 Pakistan's equivalent of the United States
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
.
The project initially cost US$450 million (raised by both
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
and
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
) and was approved by Bhutto in 1972.
Project-706 led to the creation of multiple production and research sites that operated in extreme secrecy and
ambiguity
Ambiguity is the type of meaning in which a phrase, statement or resolution is not explicitly defined, making several interpretations plausible. A common aspect of ambiguity is uncertainty. It is thus an attribute of any idea or statement ...
. Apart from research and development the project was also charged with gathering intelligence on
Indian nuclear efforts. The Project was disbanded when the
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) carried out the first
cold test of a miniature
nuclear device
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
on 11 March 1983. Scientists and military officers who participated in the Project were given leadership positions in their respective services, and conferred with
high civil decorations by 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 ...
.
Origins
Proposals
The history of Pakistani interest into nuclear science goes back to late 1948 when a large number of scientists, mathematicians, chemists, and physicists moved to Pakistan from India on the request of
Prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Liaqat Ali Khan
Liaquat Ali Khan ( ur, ; 1 October 1895 – 16 October 1951), also referred to in Pakistan as ''Quaid-e-Millat'' () or ''Shaheed-e-Millat'' ( ur, lit=Martyr of the Nation, label=none, ), was a Pakistani statesman, lawyer, political theoris ...
. The research in nuclear technology was encouraged by
Mark Oliphant
Sir Marcus Laurence Elwin Oliphant, (8 October 1901 – 14 July 2000) was an Australian physicist and humanitarian who played an important role in the first experimental demonstration of nuclear fusion and in the development of nuclear weapon ...
who, in 1948, wrote a letter to
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...
to engage research in the peaceful use of nuclear technology.
According to Mark Oliphant, no other Muslim scientist was available in the
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
other than
Rafi Muhammad Chaudhry
Rafi Muhammad Chaudhry ( ur, ) Fellow of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences, FPAS Hilal-i-Imtiaz, HI, Nishan-e-Imtiaz, NI, Sitara-i-Imtiaz, SI, Civil decorations of Pakistan, Skdt (1 July 1903 – 4 December 1988) best known as R. M. Chaudhry, wa ...
, who could prove useful for the newly
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
country in the field of nuclear technology.
A letter was directed to Chaudhry, who migrated to Pakistan in 1948 and established High-Tension Laboratory in 1952.
On 8 December 1953, US
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Dwight Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
launched the
Atoms for Peace
"Atoms for Peace" was the title of a speech delivered by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the UN General Assembly in New York City on December 8, 1953.
The United States then launched an "Atoms for Peace" program that supplied equipment ...
program, where Pakistan was one of the first countries to sign the treaty. On 8 December 1953, the
Pakistani media
Mass media in Pakistan ( ur, ) provides information on television, radio, cinema, newspapers, and magazines in Pakistan. Pakistan has a vibrant media landscape; among the most dynamic in South Asia and world. Majority of media in Pakistan is pr ...
welcomed the proposed peaceful use of atomic energy, but
Foreign minister
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
Sir Zaf-rulla Khan stated that Pakistan did not have a policy towards the atom bomb. In 1956,
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) was founded and its first chairman was
Nazir Ahmad, and
Science Advisor to the Prime minister,
Salimuzzaman Siddiqui
Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, ( ur, ; 19 October 1897 – 14 April 1994) was a Pakistani Muhajir organic chemist specialising in natural products, and a professor of chemistry at the University of Karachi.
Siddiqui studied philosophy at Aligarh Mus ...
served agency's first
Technical (member). In 1958, the PAEC drafted a proposal to the military government of Field Marshal Ayub Khan for the acquisition of either the
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
NRX heavy water reactor or the
CP-5 reactor, at the
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is a science and engineering research United States Department of Energy National Labs, national laboratory operated by University of Chicago, UChicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy. The facil ...
. However, Ayub Khan's military government vetoed the proposal.
In March 1958, Nazir Ahmad made another proposal to the chairman of the
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 setting up a
heavy water nuclear plant with a production capacity of 50 kg of heavy water per day at Multan in conjunction with a planned fertilizer factory. However, the PIDC did not act on the PAEC's proposal.
Field Marshal
Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...
Ayub Khan
Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...
rejected the proposal and instead transferred Nazir Ahmad immediately to the
Federal Bureau of Statistics usman
The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics ( ur, , abbreviated as PBS) is a federal agency under the Government of Pakistan commissioned the national statistical services and to provide solid and comprehensive statistical research. Results co ...
. In March 1959, the PAEC entered an agreement with
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President H ...
, in which the United States agreed to provide a 5 MW pool-type reactor. In 1960, a bureaucrat named
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 ...
succeeded Ahmad as chairman of the PAEC. Usmani played a pivotal role in the construction and development of
Karachi Nuclear Power Plant
The Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (or KANUPP) is a large commercial nuclear power plant located at the Paradise Point in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.
Officially known as Karachi Nuclear Power Complex, the power generation site is composed of three ...
by setting up
uranium
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...
and
plutonium
Plutonium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibi ...
exploration committees throughout the country. Many nuclear research institutes were also established, and work was begun to set up surveying the suitable sites for nuclear power plants.
In 1965, Science Advisor to the Government
Abdus Salam
Mohammad Abdus Salam Salam adopted the forename "Mohammad" in 1974 in response to the anti-Ahmadiyya decrees in Pakistan, similarly he grew his beard. (; ; 29 January 192621 November 1996) was a Punjabi Pakistani theoretical physicist and a ...
traveled to
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
to sign an agreement with the government of United States to provide a
research reactor
Research reactors are nuclear fission-based nuclear reactors that serve primarily as a neutron source. They are also called non-power reactors, in contrast to power reactors that are used for electricity production, heat generation, or maritim ...
in Rawalpindi. In United States, Salam also held meeting with
Edward Durell Stone
Edward Durell Stone (March 9, 1902 – August 6, 1978) was an American architect known for the formal, highly decorative buildings he designed in the 1950s and 1960s. His works include the Museum of Modern Art, in New York City, the Museo de A ...
, where he signed another contract. It was under Abdus Salam's leadership that Stone designed and then led construction of a
nuclear research institute in Nilore.
The same year, the PAEC entered another agreement with
General Electric of Canada to build a 137
MW Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...
at Karachi. In 1967, Abdus Salam urged Field Marshal Ayub Khan to acquire a nuclear fuel reprocessing facility from the United States, but Ayub Khan and his
Finance minister
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
,
Muhammad Shoaib, had denied Salam's request.
After the
1965 India-Pakistan War, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Foreign minister at that time, began to lobby for a nuclear weapons option. 'If India builds the bomb, we will eat grass or leaves, even go hungry, but we will get one of our own. We have no other choice'. 'In October 1965, Bhutto visited
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
to attend the
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 ...
meeting. While there, he met with
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 ...
, and other Pakistani scientists working at IAEA. Pakistani IAEA scientists briefed Bhutto on the
rapid development of Indian nuclear programme. According to Munir Ahmad Khan, the
nuclear facility
A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...
at
Trombay
Trombay is an eastern suburb in Bombay (Mumbai), India.
History
Trombay was called Neat's Tongue because of its shape. Once, it was an island nearly 5 km East of Mumbai and was about 8 km in length and 8 km in width. The island ...
consisted of a plutonium production reactor, a reprocessing plant, and other facilities associated to weapon production. Bhutto quickly arranged a meeting with Ayub Khan. After this meeting, Ayub Khan remained unconvinced, and rejected the proposal made by Munir Ahmad Khan. Khan notified Bhutto immediately and told him about what had happened.
After learning what happened, Bhutto famously replied, "Don't worry. Our turn will come". In 1967, a team of Pakistani scientists, under
Rafi Muhammad Chaudhry
Rafi Muhammad Chaudhry ( ur, ) Fellow of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences, FPAS Hilal-i-Imtiaz, HI, Nishan-e-Imtiaz, NI, Sitara-i-Imtiaz, SI, Civil decorations of Pakistan, Skdt (1 July 1903 – 4 December 1988) best known as R. M. Chaudhry, wa ...
, produced the first batch of
radioisotopes
A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transferr ...
at the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology. The research in nuclear technology at PINSTECH began to pick up speed, and Abdus Salam began to supervise Pakistani research institutes.
In 1968, research on theoretical physics had begun at the newly created Institute of Physics (IP). The IP was established in the small department of physics at the Quaid-e-Azam University (as of today, the IP and the department of physics has been expanded). Pakistani theoretical physicists, such as
Faheem Hussain
Faheem Hussain (31 July 1942 – 29 September 2009), was a Pakistani theoretical physicist and a professor of physics at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). A research scientist in the field of superstring theory at the Nationa ...
, Peter Rotolli, John Mumtaz, Fayyazuddin, Ishfaq Ahmad, and Masud Ahmad, had begun research on theoretical and quantum physics. Faheem Hussain became the first physicist at IP to published research analysis on
string theory
In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and interac ...
. Later on, the Relativity Group under Fayyazuddin carried out work on the
Bethe-Bloch theory. In 1969, Raziuddin Siddiqui established Einstein's Physics Group (EPG) and carried out experiments on
general relativity
General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physics ...
and
quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...
.
The Indo-Pakistani 1971 War
In March 1970, the
general elections
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
were held in Pakistan under the Military government of General Yahya Khan. The electoral results triggered the
Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...
in
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...
. Meanwhile, the political situation in West Pakistan was further deteriorating, and tension momentarily grew between the East and West Pakistan. A
military action
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...
in East Pakistan called
Operation Searchlight
Operation Searchlight was the codename for a planned military operation carried out by the Pakistan Army in an effort to curb the Bengali nationalist movement in former East Pakistan in March 1971. Pakistan retrospectively justified the opera ...
opened a series of bloody counter-insurgency operations led by the defected Bengali dissidents of Pakistan Armed Forces. Later, India intervened in the conflict as covert operations were successfully led by the Indian intelligence agencies.
This was followed by
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the
Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...
, a war in the western front. Pakistan, now fighting on both fronts, lost the war after only 13 days. The war with India and East-Pakistan had caused the collapse of the
military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer.
The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...
of Yahya Khan, and dissolution of United Pakistan.
During the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the
Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...
, Pakistan had lost a significant amount of territory as well as geopolitical and economic influence in
South-Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
. The size of the Military of Pakistan and the civil population dramatically decreased. Pakistan lost half its
Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
, a quarter of its
Air Force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
and a third of its
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
as well as losing millions of citizens to newly created Bangladesh.
Under pressure by the public and media, Military Government's Combatant Headquarters, the GHQ, gave in to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. As Zulfikar Ali Bhutto came into political power, governmental nuclear organizations came under control of Bhutto. In early January 1972, the year after the war, the
ISI learned that India was close to developing an
atomic bomb
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
. Bhutto called Munir Ahmad Khan from Vienna and immediately removed
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 ...
as the chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. Abdus Salam, Science Advisor, managed a meeting of senior scientists and officials of PAEC.
Organization
In December 1972,
Nobel laureate
The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...
Abdus Salam
Mohammad Abdus Salam Salam adopted the forename "Mohammad" in 1974 in response to the anti-Ahmadiyya decrees in Pakistan, similarly he grew his beard. (; ; 29 January 192621 November 1996) was a Punjabi Pakistani theoretical physicist and a ...
began to initiate the work on nuclear weapons. Abdus Salam called two of his students,
Riazuddin and
Masud Ahmad
Muhammad Masud Ahmad ( Urdu: محمد مسعود احمد; ), best known as Masood Ahmad, (16 November 1943 – 29 December 2018) was a Pakistani theoretical physicist and ICTP laureate known for his work in dual resonance and Veneziano ...
working at the
International Centre for Theoretical Physics
The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) is an international research institute for physical and mathematical sciences that operates under a tripartite agreement between the Italian Government, United Nations Educatio ...
(ICTP) to report to Munir Ahmad Khan.
["Shahid-ur-Rahman Khan,'' Long Road to Chaghi''(Islamabad: Print Wise Publications, 1999), pp. 38–39.] Theoretical physicists at Institute of Physics (IP) of
Quaid-e-Azam University
Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad ( ur, ; commonly referred to as QAU), founded as University of Islamabad, is a ranked 1 public research university in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Founded as the University of Islamabad in 1967, it was initially dedi ...
began to report back to Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. Theoretical physicists at IP formed the "
Theoretical Physics Group (TPG)", which was mandated to develop the design of Pakistan's nuclear weapons.
Abdus Salam played an integral role in TPG, and had done the groundbreaking work for the "Theoretical Physics Group", which was initially headed by Salam until 1974. The TPG took the research in
Fast neutron calculations
The neutron detection temperature, also called the neutron energy, indicates a free neutron's kinetic energy, usually given in electron volts. The term ''temperature'' is used, since hot, thermal and cold neutrons are moderated in a medium with ...
—the key to calculations of critical mass and weapon detonation. The TPG began to report directly to Abdus Salam and research was undertaken under his supervision. The TPG examined the problems of
neutron diffraction
Neutron diffraction or elastic neutron scattering is the application of neutron scattering to the determination of the atomic and/or magnetic structure of a material. A sample to be examined is placed in a beam of thermal or cold neutrons to o ...
, the theory of
Simultaneity
Simultaneity may refer to:
* Relativity of simultaneity, a concept in special relativity.
* Simultaneity (music), more than one complete musical texture occurring at the same time, rather than in succession
* Simultaneity, a concept in Endogeneit ...
,
hydrodynamics
In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids—liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including ''aerodynamics'' (the study of air and other gases in motion) and ...
, and what kind of and how much fissile material and reflectors would be used. In 1973, Bhutto appointed
Raziuddin Siddiqui as Technical member of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, and made him responsible for the preparation of its charter. Raziuddin Siddiqui, a theoretical physicist, established the
Mathematical Physics Group (MPG) that took charge to carry out research in calculations on
MC Integrals,
cross section theory,
critical mass theory, and
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
involved in general theory of
fission reactions.
Educated at the
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is a science and engineering research United States Department of Energy National Labs, national laboratory operated by University of Chicago, UChicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy. The facil ...
, Munir Ahmad Khan and Abdus Salam called a meeting to initiate a work on an atomic weapon in March 1974 at the Pinstech Institute. The meeting was convened by Abdus Salam and Riazuddin of the Theoretical Physics Group (TPG), Asghar Qadir and Munir Ahmad Rashid of Mathematical Physics Group (MPG), Ishfaq Ahmad and Samar Mubarakmand of Nuclear Physics Group (NPG), and Hafeez Qureshi and Zaman Sheikh of Wah Group Scientists (WGS). During the meeting, the word "
bomb
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...
" was never used, instead the academic scientists preferred to use scientific research rationale. There, the scientists decided to develop an '
implosion' over the '
gun type fission device' citing economy in the use of fissile material. The Plutonium and Uranium exploration committees, under Ishfaq Ahmad and Ahsan Mubarak, made discoveries of natural raw plutonium ores and
Natural uranium
Natural uranium (NU or Unat) refers to uranium with the same isotopic ratio as found in nature. It contains 0.711% uranium-235, 99.284% uranium-238, and a trace of uranium-234 by weight (0.0055%). Approximately 2.2% of its radioactivity comes fr ...
deposits in the different areas of country. The Nuclear Physics Group, formed in 1967, began to work to under
Ishfaq Ahmad
Ishfaq Ahmad Khan (3 November 1930 – 18 January 2018) , was a Pakistani nuclear physicist, emeritus professor of high-energy physics at the National Centre for Physics, and former science advisor to the Government of Pakistan.
A versatile ...
. The NPG analysis the problems on the converting
238 U into
239 Pu. In the 1980s the NPG successfully produced the 10 kg of uranium. The NPG also manufactured and reprocessed the
Plutonium isotopes at the New Labs, PARR-Reactor.
In March 1974, a meeting led by Abdus Salam and Munir Ahmad Khan constituted a small directorate, code name Wah Group Scientists (WGS). Its members contained
Hafeez Qureshi, director-general of
Radiation Isotope Application Division (RIAD), and Zaman Sheikh, a
chemical engineer
In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...
from
DESTO Desto Records was an American record label. It was founded in 1951 by Horace Grenell who had a mail order business of selling children's records and was looking to expand genres.
The first issue was a three disc edition of '' The Beggars Opera''. I ...
. The Wah Group Scientists began research on
high precision mechanical and chemical components, physics calculation, high explosives and triggering mechanism. The same month of March, Abdus Salam and Munir Ahmad Khan set up a plant to manufacture fissile explosive lenses. In April 1974, Abdus Salam formed another group, Laser Physics Group (LPG), headed by
Shaukat Hameed Khan
Shaukat Hameed Khan (Urdu: شوکت حمید خان; born 4 September 1941) , is a Pakistani optical physicist and a visiting professor of physics at the Comsats University in Islamabad. Khan is known for his understanding in spark gap and plasm ...
. The Laser Physics Group was charged to carry out research and discover a process to separate
NU into
EU and
DU. The LPG used advanced laser technologies, and examined the problems in molecular isotopic of separation of
235 U—whether to use infrared or Ultra violet lasers—and
Electromagnetic radiation
In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) consists of waves of the electromagnetic field, electromagnetic (EM) field, which propagate through space and carry momentum and electromagnetic radiant energy. It includes radio waves, microwaves, inf ...
and
atomic spectroscopy
Atomic spectroscopy is the study of the electromagnetic radiation absorbed and emitted by atoms. Since unique elements have characteristic (signature) spectra, atomic spectroscopy, specifically the electromagnetic spectrum or mass spectrum, is appl ...
— what would be its
wavelength
In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.
It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, tro ...
and how atoms separated and ionized.
In early 1974, under the advice of Abdus Salam, PAEC formed another group, "
Fast Neutron Physics Group", under
Samar Mubarakmand
Dr. Samar Mubarakmand (Urdu: ; b. 17 September 1942; ), is a Pakistani nuclear physicist known for his research in gamma spectroscopy and experimental development of the linear accelerator.
He came to public attention as the director of the t ...
. The Fast Neutron Physics Group (FNPG) took research in and examined the problems in the science of neutron, a
subatomic particle
In physical sciences, a subatomic particle is a particle that composes an atom. According to the Standard Model of particle physics, a subatomic particle can be either a composite particle, which is composed of other particles (for example, a pr ...
. The Fast Neutron Physics Group calculated the
numerical ranges of neutrons—how much
power
Power most often refers to:
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
** Abusive power
Power may a ...
would be produced by the neutrons—and the
efficiency of neutrons—determined the number of neutrons would be produced—in a device. The Fast Neutron Physics Group discovered the treatment process for the
Fast,
thermal
A thermal column (or thermal) is a rising mass of buoyant air, a convective current in the atmosphere, that transfers heat energy vertically. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example ...
and
slow neutron
The neutron detection temperature, also called the neutron energy, indicates a free neutron's kinetic energy, usually given in electron volts. The term ''temperature'' is used, since hot, thermal and cold neutrons are moderated in a medium with ...
s, and examined the behaviour of
Neutron flux
The neutron flux, φ, is a scalar quantity used in nuclear physics and nuclear reactor physics. It is the total length travelled by all free neutrons per unit time and volume. Equivalently, it can be defined as the number of neutrons travelling ...
es, and
Neutron source
A neutron source is any device that emits neutrons, irrespective of the mechanism used to produce the neutrons. Neutron sources are used in physics, engineering, medicine, nuclear weapons, petroleum exploration, biology, chemistry, and nuclear p ...
s in particle accelerator installed at PINSTECH. The Fast Neutron Physics Group used the
R-process
In nuclear astrophysics, the rapid neutron-capture process, also known as the ''r''-process, is a set of nuclear reactions that is responsible for the creation of approximately half of the atomic nuclei heavier than iron, the "heavy elements", ...
to determine the neutrons' behaviour in the fissionable device.
End of 1974, Pakistan's
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
passed a bill with a majority, declaring
Ahmadis to be non-Muslims after which Abdus Salam, a senior scientist and Ahmadi, left Pakistan for Great Britain in protest. After the departure of Salam Munir Ahmad Khan continued the organizations. The
Nuclear Engineering Division, under Bashiruddin Mahmood set up a
238 U production facility and the construction began under Munir Ahmad Khan's direction.
Abdul Qadeer Khan
On 22 May 1974, three years after the events in 1971, India carried out its first nuclear test, code named
Smiling Buddha
Operation Smiling BuddhaThis test has many code names. Civilian scientists called it "Operation Smiling Buddha" and the Indian Army referred to it as ''Operation Happy Krishna''. According to United States Military Intelligence, ''Operation H ...
, near Pakistan's Eastern Border of
Sindh
Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
. The nuclear test came as a surprise and caused a great alarm at 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 ...
. On 19 May 1974, in a news conference, Bhutto stressed that India's nuclear program was designed 'to intimidate Pakistan and establish India's hegemony in the subcontinent'.
Abdul Qadeer Khan, a German-trained
metallurgical engineer
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys.
Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
and
nuclear weapon technologist, had spent years at
URENCO
The Urenco Group is a British-German-Dutch nuclear fuel consortium operating several uranium enrichment plants in Germany, the Netherlands, United States, and United Kingdom. It supplies nuclear power stations in about 15 countries, and stat ...
in Belgium and the Netherlands.
While at URENCO, Khan was considered a senior translator at the facility and as such had gained access to the most confidential sites and information.
After the India's
nuclear test
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by ...
, Khan wrote a letter to Bhutto in which he explained that he had gained expertise in centrifuge-based uranium enrichment technologies at URENCO in Belgium. Bhutto directed the letter to Munir Ahmad Khan to arrange a meeting with A.Q. Khan. In October 1974, Munir A. Khan sent Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood to The Netherlands to interview Qadeer Khan. In December 1974, Khan returned to Pakistan to meet Prime Minister Ali Bhutto and PAEC Chairman Munir Ahmad Khan, where he tried to convince Bhutto to adopt his uranium route rather than the plutonium approach. Bhutto did not agree to halt the Plutonium route but decided on the spot to place Khan in charge of the uranium program, which would become a parallel nuclear program.
Khan initially worked under Bashiruddin Mahmood. But on 19 April 1976, Khan wrote to Munir Ahmad Khan expressing that he was not satisfied and that he wanted to work independently. The letter was forwarded to Prime minister's secretariat. A.Q. Khan, with support from Prime Minister Bhutto, formed the
Engineering Research Laboratories
The Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, ( ur, ) or KRL for short, is a federally funded, multi-program national research institute and national laboratory site primarily dedicated to uranium enrichment, supercomputing and fluid mechanics. It ...
, which later became known as the
Kahuta Research Laboratories
The Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, ( ur, ) or KRL for short, is a federally funded, multi-program national research institute and national laboratory site primarily dedicated to uranium enrichment, supercomputing and fluid mechanics. It ...
(KRL). Just as PAEC, the KRL was under direct control of Prime Minister Bhutto and A.Q. Khan reported directly to the Prime Minister. A.Q. Khan disliked the idea of PAEC getting involved in ERL project, but favoured the
to lead the program. The work on ERL was initiated by Bhutto, and the project was assigned to Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers.
As per recommendation of A.Q. Khan, the
Engineer-in-Chief of
Corps of Engineers selected Brigadier
Zahid Ali Akbar Khan
Lieutenant General Zahid Ali Akbar ( ur, ; b. 1933) , is a former engineering officer in the Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers, who oversaw the civil construction of the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi, and later directing the Engineering Research La ...
, who was renowned for the construction of the GHQ in Rawalpindi, the headquarters of Pakistan Army's Combatant Command, as the head of the project.
Brigadier Zahid Ali Akbar led the accelerated construction of the facility, and began to co-administrator the program, alongside Bhutto himself. Impressed by his work at Kahuta, Bhutto gave him additional and secretive assignments for both PAEC and KRL. An office was set up in Prime minister's Secretariat for Brigadier Akbar as he kept Bhutto informed about the construction of the ERL.
Throughout the years, A.Q. Khan had established an administrative proliferation network through Dubai to smuggle URENCO nuclear technology to the Kahuta Research Laboratories. He established
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 ...
's
gas-centrifuge program which was also loosely based on the URENCO's Zippe-type centrifuge.
Zahid Ali Akbar Khan
By September 1976 a one hundred acre site near
Kahuta
Kahuta (Punjabi, Urdu: کہوٹہ) is a census-designated city and tehsil in the Rawalpindi District of Punjab Province, Pakistan. The population of the Kahuta Tehsil is approximately 220,576 at the 2017 census. Kahuta is the home to the Kahuta ...
was personally selected, as Abdul Qadeer Khan claimed in his columns.
[http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_opinion.cfm?category=Science&country=Pakistan#A history of Kahuta] Prime Bhutto asked
Chief of Army Staff General
Tikka Khan
General Tikka Khan ( ur, ٹکا خان; 10 February 1915 – 28 March 2002) was a Pakistan Army general who was the first chief of army staff from 3 March 1972 until retiring on 1 March 1976. Along with Yahya Khan, he is considered a chief ar ...
that Brigadier Akbar Khan be promoted to
two-star major-general
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
, as it was felt that the title "''general''" would sway with the academic scientists working on the confidential projects. As a two-star general, Zahid Ali Akbar Khan led the constructions of both the
Metallurgical Laboratory
The Metallurgical Laboratory (or Met Lab) was a scientific laboratory at the University of Chicago that was established in February 1942 to study and use the newly discovered chemical element plutonium. It researched plutonium's chemistry and m ...
in Wah Canntonment (ML) and the uranium enrichment plant in Kahuta.
Originally known as Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL), the facility was renamed Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in May 1981 by the Military President and Chief of Army Staff General Zia-ul-Haq in the honor of Abdul Qadeer Khan.
There are inconsistencies in the above account, which suggests that Brigadier Zahid Ali Akbar Khan was promoted to the rank of two star general by Gen Tikka on the orders of Bhutto to sway the scientists. This account contradicts Dr A.Q. Khan's account which suggests that Zahid Ali Akbar was neither promoted nor deputed by Gen Tikka. According to A.Q., Zahid was deputed to KRL as a Brigadier in the days of Gen Zia (after Gen Tikka retired from the Army) and the promotion to two star general came sometime after that event.
Administrative committees
Considering the secrecy of the projects and to maintain leadership over the programmes, Bhutto decided to form a committee that would be responsible for coordination and order in the projects that the academic scientists were working on.
[Mubashir Hassan
Mubashir Hassan ( ur, ; 22 January 1922 – 14 March 2020), was a Pakistani politician, humanist, political adviser, and an engineer who served in the capacity of Finance Minister in Bhutto administration from 1971 until 1974.
In 1967, Hass ...]
and the Oxford University Press "> In 1974, Bhutto appointed the civil engineer
as the head of the committee.