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A FOOD FOR THOUGHT:India has fissile material for 2,000 nuke

 
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sabya99
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 6:54 pm    Post subject: A FOOD FOR THOUGHT:India has fissile material for 2,000 nuke Reply with quote

A FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

India has fissile material for 2,000 warheads, assesses Pakistan

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/500192/india-has-fissile-material-2000.html
Pakis¬tan has assessed that India has enough fissile material for more than 2,000 warheads, a media report said on Thursday.

The Natio¬nal Command Authority (NCA) on Wednes¬day concluded that India's growing nuclear programme and absence of a conflict resolution mechanism were upsetting strategic stability in the region and the situation was forcing Pakistan to maintain 'full-spectrum deterrence capability', reported Dawn.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the apex policy-making body for the country's strategic programme reviewed in its meeting the regional security environment and was briefed on fast-paced strategic and conventional capability developments taking place in the neighborhood.

The media report said that contrary to international estimates, Pakistani assessment is that India has enough fissile material, both reactor- and weapon-grade plutonium, for more than 2,000 warheads.

International Institute of Strategic Studies noted in a paper: "New Delhi's plutonium stocks also continue to pile up; according to one Pakistani assessment, by the end of 2013 India had produced enough weapons- and reactor-grade plutonium (0.8-1tn and 15tn respectively) for 2,000 warheads."

The meeting was presided over by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and attended by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman General Rashad Mehmood, the three services chiefs and the director general of the strategic plans division.

Dawn cited US think tanks Carnegie Endowment for Interna¬tional Peace and the Stimson Centre as saying that Pakistan had the fastest growing nuclear programme and could have the third largest nuclear stockpile within five to 10 years.

The NCA meeting comes amid shelling at the border with India and a day ahead of talks between Pakistani Rangers and India's Border Security Force (BSF) chiefs in New Delhi.

Saying that there are no estimates available on Indian missile inventories, the media report said that concerns expressed by the NCA pertained to India's growing strategic capabilities in the form of new weapon systems, including submarine-launchable intercontinental and medium-range ballistic missiles and improvements in its ballistic missile defense.

The NCA also noted with concern India's rapidly expanding conventional military asymmetry and dangerous limited conventional war policy called Cold Start doctrine.

"The NCA re-affirmed that the state remains fully cognizant of the evolving security dynamics of South Asia and will take all measures to safeguard its national security," the military's public relations wing said.

It said the NCA resolved to maintain full-spectrum deterrence capability in line with the dictates of credible minimum deterrence against all forms of aggression.
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iah87
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 7:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't know whether to admire or be fearful, but the Indian nuclear weapons number is one of the best kept secrets in the world. CIA and various agencies have some idea of the weapons in other countries, even Pakistan, but when it comes to India, it is just a vague estimate. Hopefully someone in India knows how much India has.

Estimates are between 90 to 120 nuclear warheads in India and for Pakistan it is about 100 to 120.
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sabya99
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 11:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

How PAK National Command Authority got this information is also not clear from the report. May be it is a guestimate based on India’s presumed Pu reprocessing capacity!
There are fundamental difference between India / PAK nuclear strategy. Desi Nukes are all Pu based ( Nagasaki type) while PAK Nukes are Uranium based. Of course they are trying to make Pu type Nukes. PAK strategic doctrine calls for a first strike at the beginning of hostility perhaps without knowing the consequences. While India only a second strike with clearly unknown number/ quality targets. Only a handful of senior commanders in both the countries have this information. But you are right, India have managed to keep its Nuke technology a secret very successfully.
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 17, 2015 10:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

nu-clear? un-clear Razz
Cheers, Sumantra.
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ssbmat
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 10:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another attempt of scaremongering to beef up defence purchases I suppose.
Based on publicly available data, Pak's nukes are more oriented towards tactical battlefield (potentially low yield) whereas India's nuke forces are oriented towards strategic offensive (potentially high yield)
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 6:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pakistan to tell US it won't accept limits on tactical nuclear arms

ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON: Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will tell US President Barack Obama this week that Islamabad will not accept limits on its use of small tactical nuclear weapons, Pakistani officials said on Wednesday.

READ ALSO:
Pakistan could be 5th largest nuclear power by 2025: Report

Pakistan insists smaller weapons would deter a sudden attack by its bigger neighbour India, which is also a nuclear power. But the United States worries tactical weapons may further destabilize an already volatile region because their smaller size makes them more tempting to use in a conventional war.

Sharif and Obama are due to meet at the White House on Thursday. The Obama administration is preparing to sell eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan in an attempt to bolster the two countries' relationship despite Washington's concerns about Pakistan's growing nuclear arsenal, according to a US source familiar with the matter.

READ ALSO:
For first time, Pakistan admits its mini-nukes only to deter conventional Indian attack

The aircraft sales, which the US Congress could block, would be a symbolic step given Pakistan's already large fleet of fighter jets. The sales were first reported by the New York Times.

The United States wants Pakistan to commit to not using tactical nuclear weapons but Islamabad wants to keep its options open as a way of deterring a potential Indian attack, said Maria Sultan, head of the South Asian Strategic Stability Institute.

Pakistan says the United States is demanding unreasonable limits on its use of nuclear weapons and not offering much in return apart from a hazy promise to consider Pakistan as a recognised recipient of nuclear technology.

"Pakistan's nuclear programme is ... India-centric. And it exists to make war a non-option ... Tactical nuclear weapons block off this room (for war) completely," said a Pakistani security official with knowledge of the country's nuclear program. "No one can dictate what kind of weapons we will make or use."

Pakistan was working on developing a nuclear submarine, he added. "The goal is a sea-based second strike capability," he said, referring to a submarine that could carry nuclear warheads and strike in case land-based nuclear weapons were wiped out.

US Secretary of State John Kerry met Sharif on Wednesday but State Department spokesman John Kirby declined to say whether a US call for nuclear restraint was discussed.

Kirby told a regular news briefing Pakistan remained engaged with the international community on nuclear security and added: "We believe that they believe in the importance of nuclear security issues."

US urges Pakistan-India dialogue.
Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-to-tell-US-it-wont-accept-limits-on-tactical-nuclear-arms/articleshow/49493942.cms

Comment: Pak generals don’t know about the fall out of the use of even small tactical nuke warhead.
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 7:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

India building top-secret nuclear city: foreign policy journal

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/518213/india-building-top-secret-nuclear.html

A leading American foreign policy journal today alleged that India is building a top-secret nuclear city to produce thermos nuclear weapons which would upgrade the country as a nuclear power and unsettle its two major neighbours - Pakistan and China.

Foreign Policy magazine alleged that India started building this secret city in Challakere in Karnataka, which when completed in 2017 would be "the subcontinent's largest military-run complex of nuclear centrifuges, atomic-research laboratories, and weapons- and aircraft-testing facilities".

"But another, more controversial ambition, according to retired Indian government officials and independent experts in London and Washington, is to give India an extra stockpile of enriched uranium fuel that could be used in new hydrogen bombs, also known as thermonuclear weapons, substantially increasing the explosive force of those in its existing nuclear arsenal," the investigative report said.

"India's close neighbours, China and Pakistan, would see this move as a provocation: Experts say they might respond by ratcheting up their own nuclear firepower," the report said.

The report does not contain any official response from either the Indian or the US Government, but has quoted several unnamed officials and retired government officials for the story.

"Mysore is being constantly monitored, and we are constantly monitoring progress in Challakere," a former White House official has been quoted as saying by the report.
Challakere is near Mysore.
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PostPosted: Sun May 29, 2016 6:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nuclear-armed Pakistan can 'target' Delhi in 5 minutes: Abdul Qadeer Khan
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Nuclear-armed-Pakistan-can-target-Delhi-in-5-minutes-Abdul-Qadeer-Khan/articleshow/52490225.cms



ISLAMABAD: Nuclear-armed Pakistan has the ability to "target" the Indian capital Delhi in five minutes, the father of Pakistan's nuclear programme Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan has said.

Addressing a gathering here on the 18th anniversary of Pakistan's first nuclear tests, which were carried out under his supervision in 1998, Khan, said Pakistan could have become a nuclear power as early as 1984 but the then President General Zia ul Haq "opposed the move".

The 80-year-old nuclear physicist said General Zia, who was Pakistan's President from 1978 to 1988, opposed the nuclear testing as he believed that the world would intervene militarily.

Further, it would have also curtailed international aid Pakistan was receiving due to the ongoing Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

"We were able and we had a plan to launch nuclear test in 1984. But President General Zia ul Haq had opposed the move," Khan said on Saturday.

Khan also said that Pakistan has the ability to "target" Delhi from Kahuta near Rawalpindi in five minutes.

Kahuta is the home to the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL), Pakistan's key uranium enrichment facility, linked to the atomic bomb project.

Khan was disgraced in 2004 when he was forced to accept responsibility for nuclear technology proliferation and was forced to live a life of official house arrest. In 2009, the Islamabad high court declared Khan to be a free citizen of Pakistan, allowing him free movement inside the country.
Comment: Even if that is true India’s Prithivi Mark 1, 2 rapid reaction missiles are well dispersed. They can take out major Pak citis in less than 2 minutes in simultaneous salvo!
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The World without Nukes will never occur. Very Happy
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sabya99
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2016 10:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

World without nuke will be a dangerous place to live!! Presence of nukes among major players have prevented another world war to happen in a short span of time. This is the concept of Mutually assured destruction (MAD ) as defined by former US secretary of state Mr.MacNamara. Founding father of modern atomic age Dr. Oppenheimer and Dr. Neil Bohr thought of declassified nuke secrets long ago. This will help all the nations of the world to have their own nuke and prevent catastrophic conventional war. Are we not heading that way?
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 14, 2016 6:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

North Korea ramps up uranium enrichment, enough for six nuclear bombs a year
Reuters | Sep 14, 2016, 04.30 PM IST
HIGHLIGHTS
• North Korea has an abundance of uranium reserves.
• The country has been working covertly for well over a decade on a project to enrich the material to weapons-grade level.
• North Korea has evaded a decade of UN sanctions to develop the uranium enrichment process.


North Korea will have enough material for about 20 nuclear bombs by the end of this year, with ramped-up uranium enrichment facilities and an existing stockpile of plutonium, according to new assessments by weapons experts.

The North has evaded a decade of UN sanctions to develop the uranium enrichment process, enabling it to run an effectively self-sufficient nuclear programme that is capable of producing around six nuclear bombs a year, they said.

The true nuclear capability of the isolated and secretive state is impossible to verify. But after Pyongyang conducted its fifth and most powerful nuclear test last week and, according to South Korea, was preparing for another, it appears to have no shortage of material to test with.

North Korea has an abundance of uranium reserves and has been working covertly for well over a decade on a project to enrich the material to weapons-grade level, the experts say.

That project, believed to have been expanded significantly, is likely the source of up to 150 kilograms (330 pounds) of highly enriched uranium a year, said Siegfried Hecker, a leading expert on the North's nuclear programme.

That quantity is enough for roughly six nuclear bombs, Hecker, who toured the North's main Yongbyon nuclear facility in 2010, wrote in a report on the 38 North website of Johns Hopkins University in Washington published on Monday.

Added to an estimated 32- to 54 kilogram plutonium stockpile, the North will have sufficient fissile material for about 20 bombs by the end of 2016, Hecker said.

North Korea said its latest test proved it was capable of mounting a nuclear warhead on a medium-range ballistic missile, but its claims to be able to miniaturise a nuclear device have never been independently verified.

Assessments of the North's plutonium stockpile are generally consistent and believed to be accurate because experts and governments can estimate plutonium production levels from telltale signs of reactor operation in satellite imagery.

South Korean Defence Minister Han Min-koo this year estimated the North's plutonium stockpile at about 40 kilogrammes.

But Hecker, a former director of the U.S. Los Alamos National Laboratory, where nuclear weapons have been designed, has called North Korea's uranium enrichment programme "their new nuclear wildcard," because Western experts do not know how advanced it is.

PAKISTAN CONNECTION

Jeffrey Lewis of the California-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies said North Korea had an unconstrained source of fissile material, both plutonium from the Yongbyon reactor and highly-enriched uranium from at least one and probably two sites.

"The primary constraint on its programme is gone," Lewis said. Weapons-grade plutonium has to be extracted from spent fuel taken out of reactors and then reprocessed, and therefore would be limited in quantity. A uranium enrichment programme greatly boosts production of material for weapons.

The known history of the uranium enrichment project dates to 2003, when the North was confronted by the United States with evidence of a clandestine programme to build a facility to enrich uranium with the help of Pakistan.

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said in his memoirs that AQ Khan, the father of that country's nuclear programme, transferred two dozen centrifuges to the North and some technical expertise around 1999.

"It was also clear that the suspected Pakistani connection had taken place, as the centrifuge design resembled Pakistan's P-2 centrifuge," Hecker said in a report in May.

Hecker reported being shown around a two-story building in the Yongbyon complex in November 2010 that a North Korean engineer said contained 2,000 centrifuges and a control room Hecker called "astonishingly modern."
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By 2009, the North had likely acquired the technology to be able to expand the uranium project indigenously, Joshua Pollack, editor of the U.S.-based Nonproliferation Review, has said.


North Korea has not explicitly admitted to operating the centrifuges to produce weapons-enriched uranium, instead claiming they were intended to generate fuel for a light water reactor it was going to build.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/North-Korea-ramps-up-uranium-enrichment-enough-for-six-nuclear-bombs-a-year/articleshow/54329346.cms
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