01 January 1996 -- India and Pakistan exchange lists of atomic installations which each side has pledged not

to attack under an over seven-year-old confidence-building agreement. January 1996 -- The Brown amendment was signed into law to relieve some of the pressures created by the Pressler sanctions, which had crippled parts of the Pakistani military, particularly the Air Force. The Brown amendment allowed nearly $370 million of previously embargoed arms and spare parts to be delivered to Pakistan. It also permited limited military assistance for the purposes of counter-terrorism, peacekeeping, antinarcotics efforts, and some military training. March 1996 -- Pakistan commissioned an unsafeguarded nuclear reactor, expected to become fully operational in the late 1990s, that will provide it with a capability to produce weapons-grade plutonium. Late 1996 -- Pakistan's main nuclear weapons laboratory, the A.Q. Khan Laboratory in Kahuta, purchased 5,000 ring magnets from China. The ring magnets would allow Pakistan to effectively double its capacity to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons production. 03 October 1996 -- Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto called for the convening of a South Asia security conference that would deal with, among other things, Kashmir and the nuclear arms issue.

1997

04 July 1997 -- Pakistan confirms test-firing of new indigenous Hatf missile. 06 September 1997 -Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif claims Pakistan possesses nuclear weapons, saying that: "Pakistan's nuclear capability is now an established fact. Whatever we have, we have a right to keep it...."

1998

28 May 1998: Pakistan detonates five nuclear devices. Pakistan claimed that the five nuclear tests measured up to 5.0 on the Richter scale, with a reported yield of up to 40 KT (equivalent TNT). 30 May 1998 Pakistan tested one more nuclear warheads, with a yield of 12 kilotons, bringing the total number of claimed tests to six.

Protection

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton informed that Pakistan has dispersed its nuclear weapons throughout the country, increasing the security so that they could not fall into terrorist hands. Her comments came as new satellite images released by the ISIS suggested Pakistan is increasing its capacity

to produce plutonium, a fuel for atomic bombs. The institute has also claimed that Pakistan has built two more nuclear reactors at Khoshab increasing the number of plutonium producing reactors to three.

In May 2009, during the anniversary of Pakistan's first nuclear weapons test, former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif

claimed that Pakistans nuclear security is the strongest in

the world. According to Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's nuclear safety program and nuclear security program is the strongest program in the world and there is no such capability in any other country for radical elements to steal or possess nuclear weapons.

Modernization and expansion

Pakistan is increasing its capacity to produce plutonium at its Khushab nuclear facility, a Washingtonbased science think tank has reported. Estimated Pakistani nuclear weapons is

probably in the neighborhood of more than 200 by the end of 2009. The sixth Pakistani

nuclear test (May 30, 1998) at Kharan was a successful test of a sophisticated, compact, but powerful bomb designed to be carried by missiles. The Pakistanis are believed to be spiking their plutonium based nuclear weapons with tritium. Only a few grams of tritium can result in an increase

of the explosive yield by 300% to 400%. Citing new satellite images of the

facility, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said the imagery suggests

construction of the second Khushab reactor is likely finished and that the roof bea

ms are being placed on top of the third Khushab reactor hall.

Foreign Assistance

In the past, China played a major role in the development of Pakistan's nuclear infrastructure, especially when increasingly stringent export controls in western countries made it difficult for Pakistan to acquire materials and technology elsewhere. According to a 2001 Department of Defense report, China has supplied Pakistan with nuclear materials and expertise and has provided critical assistance in the construction of Pakistan's nuclear facilities. In the 1990s, China designed and supplied the heavy water Khusab reactor, which plays a key role in Pakistan's production of plutonium. A subsidiary of the China National Nuclear Corporation also contributed to Pakistan's efforts to expand its uranium enrichment capabilities by providing 5,000 custom made ring magnets, which are a key component of the bearings that facilitate the high-speed rotation of centrifuges. According to Anthony Cordesman of CSIS, China is also reported to have provided Pakistan with the design of one of its warheads, which is relatively sophisticated in design and lighter than U.S. and Soviet designed first generation warheads. China also provided technical and material support in the completion of the Chasma nuclear power reactor and plutonium reprocessing facility, which was built in the mid 1990s. The project had been initiated as a cooperative program with France, but Pakistan's failure to sign the NPT and unwillingness to accept IAEA safeguards on its entire nuclear program caused France to terminate assistance. According to the Defense Department report cited above, Pakistan has also acquired nuclear related and dual-use and equipment and materials from the Former Soviet Union and Western Europe.

Radioactive wastes management The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) is responsibility for the radioactive waste management. From 1972, the PAEC has undertaken to establish the safety objectives, management, and radioactive waste management. In 2004, the PNRA issued guidelines for the management of nuclear and radioactive waste management in nuclear and medical research centers under PAEC. In 2010, the PNRA issued regulatory policy on radioactive waste materials, and Pakistan lawmakers presented the regulatory policy in Pakistan Parliament. The Parliament passed the PNRA regulatory policy unanimously, making it into laws. The PNRA proposed new Waste Management offices to control of the radiation and radioactive materials. The Waste Management Centres are proposed for Karachi, Rawalpindi, Nilore, Lahore and Chashma. Used fuel is currently stored at each reactor in pools. Longer-term dry storage at each site is proposed. The question of future reprocessing remains open. A National Repository for lowand intermediate-level wastes is due to be commissioned by 2015.

Radiation control

The PAEC's directorate for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Control (NSRC) was responsible for the radiation and high radioactive material control in the country. However, in 2001, with the establishment of the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA), the responsibilities were shifted to PNRA. In 2003, the responsibilities and agency's goals were expanded, as PNRA were given the status of an executive agency. The PNRA oversees reactor safety and security, reactor licensing and renewal, radioactive material safety, security and licensing, and spent fuel management (storage, security, recycling, and disposal). The PNRA closely work with Chinese CNNC, and is frequently visited by Chinese staff as its technical advisers.

Industry and academic

The Pakistan Nuclear Society (PNS) is a scientific and educational society that has both industry and academic members. The organization publishes large amount of scientific literature on nuclear technology on several journals. The PNS also allied itself with American Nuclear Society (ANS), European Nuclear Society (ENS), Indian Nuclear Society (INS), Korean Nuclear Society (KNS), Chinese Nuclear Society (CNS), Hungarian Nuclear Society (HNS), and the Spanish Nuclear Society (SNS). The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission also published large sums of publication, and published a quarterly magazine, The Nucleus. The PAEC's academic scientists and engineers also publish the newsletter, The PakAtom, concerning on nuclear technology and lobbying for the commercial nuclear power plants.

Non-proliferation

Pakistan is not a signatory to Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). However, it maintains a civil nuclear power general program under IAEA safeguards. Pakistan has repeatedly refused calls for international inspections of its enrichment and reprocessing activities. Munir Ahmad Khan, unlike his rival Abdul Qadeer Khan, developed Pakistan's nuclear weapons and power program ingeniously and quietly. While the weapons were developed in extreme secrecy, the profiles of academic scientists are kept highly classified, and completely unknown to the public. Strict policies were introduced by Abdus Sattar, Munir Ahmad Khan, and Ishfaq Ahmad in 1972, the PAEC has followed the strict non-nuclear proliferation policy.

In May 1998, Pakistan, under the leadership of Prime minister Nawaz Sharif, carried out a tests of its total of atomic devices, codename Chagai-I, at Ras Koh region of Chagai Hills. The first five nuclear devices were evidently made from HEU, and the tests were supervised by Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, Kahuta Research Laboratories, and the Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers. On May 30, small teams of PAEC scientists performed another test of 1 or 2 nuclear devices, codename Chagai-II, at the Kharan region. The devices were made of weapons-grade plutonium, and had a yield reported to be between 20 and 40 kilotons of TNT equivalent.