Pakistan maintains security around its nuclear sites that is second to none and the world has no cause for concern, a senior official said. Muhammad Khaliq, project director for Pakistans Nuclear Security Action Plan, outlined improvements to Pakistani atomic controls to a 90-nation meeting reviewing strategy against possible nuclear terrorism, and in remarks to Reuters.
Against this backdrop, Pakistans government was well aware of fears abroad that its nuclear plants could be vulnerable to militants but "these perceptions are wrong", said Khaliq. "Our nuclear security compares with the best in the world. It is a comprehensive system. International experts tell us we could teach things to their people," he said on the sidelines of the meeting sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Launched in 2006, Pakistans Nuclear Security Action Plan had reviewed and upgraded security at sites, trained more than 600 officials and set up a programme to locate and secure stray radioactive materials, said Khaliq.
The sprawling nation of 170 million people had also installed radioactivity detection equipment at key border points with China, Afghanistan and Iran to prevent any nuclear smuggling.
Khaliq said the move reflected "increased concern about unconventional threats from radioactive sources and materials" but was not a response to any concrete threat or incident, of which he said there were no known instances. Pakistani nuclear employees undergo regular background checks for their trustworthiness and affiliations, he said. The loftier their position and closer they were to sensitive activity, the more frequent the checks.
He said Pakistans regulatory standards were in complete compliance with the global Convention on Nuclear Safety and the guidelines of the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog. "We believe we must keep our (nuclear) house clean and in order. We are making the maximum effort," Khaliq said. That is critical, Western officials say, to keeping Pakistans nuclear ability out of the hands of militants like al Qaeda which have long sought to acquire doomsday weaponry.