Pak. set to explode another bomb?

ISLAMABAD, MAY 15. Pakistan is believed to have made all preparations to carry out its seventh nuclear test in Chagai.

The Islamabad daily, Pakistan Observer, said the preparations come in the wake of intelligence reports that ``India is all set to explode a hydrogen bomb in Pokhran very soon.'' According to the paper, Pakistan will then sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, thereby neutralising world reaction over the explosion.

Quoting diplomatic sources in Islamabad, the paper said ``some spy satellites operating in the region had also picked up pictures showing both India and Pakistan's preparations in this regard.''

Pakistan's seventh nuclear test will be plutonium based instead of enriched uranium. The 1998 Chagai blast was based on uranium. About 20 kg of uranium is required for one device while only six kg plutonium is enough.

The paper claimed that by making the first move of testing the hydrogen bomb and then signing the CTBT, India wanted to gain the benefits of being the first signatory of the treaty in the sub- continent.

Pakistan needs International Monetary Fund assistance but that is conditional on signing the CTBT. Pakistan will have to pay at least $ five billions in January, 2001 if it fails to reach an agreement with the IMF soon.

Against this background, conducting the nuclear tests and then signing the CTBT would seem a profitable proposition to Pakistan, the paper said.

Pakistan had built a plutonium-producing reactor of about 40 to 50 megawatt at Khushab. It was completed long ago but was not loaded with fuel. The reactor can produce approximately 10 to 15 kg of plutonium each year, enough for two or three bombs.

- UNI

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