Pakistan in large-scale nuclear expansion

Pakistan is building a reactor that could produce enough plutonium for 40 to 50 nuclear weapons a year in what would be a major expansion of its nuclear program and an intensified arms race in South Asia, a report said on Monday. Satellite photos show what appears to be the construction site for a larger nuclear reactor adjacent to Pakistan's only plutonium production reactor, according to an analysis by nuclear experts at the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security. The analysts concluded that the diameter of the structure's metal shell suggests a very large reactor "operating in excess of 1,000 megawatts thermal," according to the report. "Such a reactor could produce over 200 kg of weapons-grade plutonium per year, assuming it operates at full power a modest 220 days per year," the technical assessment said. "At 4 to 5 kg of plutonium per weapon, this stock would allow the production of over 40 to 50 nuclear weapons a year.