This chapter deals with the prospects for the
expansion of the current Pakistani nuclear power
program, and the dangers to national safety and
security such expansion entails due to rapid expansion,
and the potential military or terrorist attacks against
future nuclear power plants. In terms of organization,
this chapter is divided into two parts. The first part,
including the front two sections, summarizes the
current status of the Pakistani nuclear power program,
and the prospects for its expansion. The second part
deals with the nuclear safety risks that the expansion of
the Pakistani nuclear power program might entail, and
the security risks related to military or terrorist attacks
against nuclear power stations. A detailed conclusions
section completes the presentation.
It is concluded here that Pakistan has maintained
its currently small nuclear power program in a
safe mode, though plant performance records are
mediocre, given the limited integration of Pakistani
plants into the global nuclear industry. That Pakistan
provides many of the requisite plant maintenance and
upgrade capabilities from its own resources attests
to the potential for improved operations if Pakistan’s
nonproliferation position could be resolved. Future
expansion of the Pakistani program on the scale
projected by the government depends on changes
278
in Pakistan’s nonproliferation stance that might be
related to resolution of the proposed U.S.-India nuclear
cooperation agreement. A similar agreement between
Pakistan and China, if possible, might allow significant
expansion of the Pakistani nuclear program. It is further
concluded here that rapid expansion of the installed
nuclear capacity might strain the regulatory agencies‘
capability to supervise safe construction and operation
of the prospective new nuclear power stations. Fastrate
capacity growth might strain Pakistan’s ability
to train adequate numbers of station operating staffs,
support infrastructure, and regulatory manpower.
The combined effects of the above could lead to safety
problems related to plant operations and supervision
by poorly trained personnel with potentially severe
consequences.
We make the point here that the overall security
situation in Pakistan is unstable, with large numbers of
terrorist groups allowed to operate within the country,
with an armed insurrection ongoing in Balochistan,
and with the government’s loss of control of several
provinces to the Taliban and other Islamic and Arabic
terror organizations. This generally unstable security
situation is not conducive to stable long-term expansion
of nuclear power capacity. An immediate problem may
be the difficulty of security screening of all prospective
nuclear stations and infrastructure employees, with
the distinct possibility of terror supporters gaining
access to power stations and providing insider support
to putative terrorist attacks. Large multiunit nuclear
power stations that likely will be constructed if the
nuclear expansion plan is implemented would become
vulnerable to terrorist attacks or attempted takeovers
all supported by potential inside collaborators.
Terrorist attacks against nuclear power stations could
279
be motivated by three factors:
- the desire to obtain
radioactive or fissile materials for the construction of
radioactivity dispersion devices or nuclear weapons;
- the intent to create significant damage to the station,
nearby population, the environment, and the country
as a whole as revenge for some government actions
inimical to terrorist interests; or
- the desire to force
the government to accede to some terrorists demands
and modify its policies accordingly.
In similar fashion,
military action against nuclear power stations can not be
ruled out, motivated possibly by the intent to change or
reverse government decisions and policies to respond
to military demands. Since the military already controls
security at all nuclear facilities in Pakistan, military
takeover of future nuclear power stations is that much
simplified. We conclude here that installing large
multiunit nuclear power stations is in the economic
interest of any country, like Pakistan, projecting large
scale nuclear capacity growth. However, given the
less than stable situation in Pakistan such stations
are vulnerable to future security threats against the
government. Both economic and security trade-offs
should be evaluated when considering large scale
nuclear capacity expansion in Pakistan’s situation.
This book, completed just before Pakistani President Musharraf imposed
a state of emergency in November 2007, reflects research that the
Nonproliferation Policy Education Center commissioned over the last 2
years. It tries to characterize specific nuclear problems that the
ruling Pakistani government faces with the aim of establishing a base
line set of challenges for remedial action. Its point of departure is
to consider what nuclear challenges Pakistan will face if moderate
forces remain in control of the government and no hot war breaks out
against India.