Nuclear materials: Islamabad never involved in illicit trafficking

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), appreciating Pakistan's efforts and measures to secure its nuclear materials, declared that there is not a single incident of illicit trafficking of nuclear materials by Pakistan.
IAEA report said: "Pakistan has taken stringent measures to secure its nuclear materials, and is continuously pursuing to meet international standards in regulating its nuclear activities."
Referring to Pakistan's Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA), the IAEA report also said: "Those accusing Pakistan about safety of its nuclear materials need to assess their own record."
The report stated that Pakistan does not figure in 'IAEA Illicit Trafficking of Nuclear and Radioactive Material Database' report, which shows incidents, occurred mostly in different parts of the European countries.
The report released by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said out of 827 confirmed incidents involving nuclear, radioactive materials, and radioactively contaminated-material from 1993-2005, Pakistan is not included in any of these incidents.
So far, there is not a single incident of illicit trafficking of nuclear materials as is manifested from the Illicit Trafficking Database (ITDB) report to which Pakistan subscribes through its Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA).
The IAEA has been maintaining ITDB since 1995 to facilitate the exchange of authoritative information on reported incidents among the member states.
Pakistan is also participating in the ITDB programme in which reporting is voluntary.
The ITDB covers incidents involving unauthorised acquisition, provision, possession, use, transfer or disposal of nuclear and other radioactive material whether deliberately or inadvertently with or without crossing international borders. Out of these 224 incidents related to nuclear materials, while 516 concerned to other radioactive materials.
Another 26 incidents pertaining to both nuclear and other radioactive materials, whereas 61 reported incidents were about radioactively contaminated-materials, including 11 miscellaneous incidents.
It indicates the trend in security vulnerabilities at facilities which handle highly enriched uranium (HEU) with serious implications for terrorism, the report said. These incidents fortunately did not cause any harm, but they do not guarantee that they will remain harmless in future as well, the IAEA said.
The IAEA through this report urged the international community to understand the global nature of the threat, and if the objective is to deny weapons of mass destruction materials to unwanted clients then it needs to develop a global strategy based on mutual assistance and support and not on suspicion and accusations.