Time Line of Pakistani Nuclear Program from 1981 to 1998

Time Line of Pakistani Nuclear Program from 1981 to 1998

1981- PAEC completes the Pilot Reprocessing Plant "New Labs" at PINSTECH.

1981- Reagan Administration lifts economic and military sanctions and embargoes against Pakistan.

1981- May 1, ERL renamed Dr. AQ Khan Research Laboratories by General Zia-ul-Haq.

1983- March 11, PAEC’s Directorate of Technical Development, successfully conducts the first "cold" test of a nuclear device. A second cold test is conducted shortly afterwards and is witnessed by Vice Chief of Army Staff, General KM Arif, Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Munir Ahmad Khan. From 1983-1992, DTD carries out 24 cold tests of different designs of nuclear weapons.

1983- March 11, following the first successful cold test of a working nuclear device, PAEC chairman informs the President of Pakistan, General Zia-ul-Haq that now Pakistan is ready to make an atomic bomb whenever it wants.

1983-A Computer Training Centre set up in PAEC.

1984- Dr. AQ Khan gives interviews in which he talks of Pakistan’s ability to successfully enrich uranium to any level required.

1985 - Pressler Amendment [section 620E(e) of the Foreign Assistance Act] requires a total cut-off of U.S. aid to Islamabad unless the president can certify that Pakistan does not possess a nuclear weapon, and that continued US aid will significantly decrease the probability of its developing one in the future.

1985- Plutonium Production Heavy Water Reactor at KHUSHAB started by PAEC.

1986- Commenting on Pakistan's nuclear capability, General Zia, President of Pakistan, tells interviewer, `It is our right to obtain the technology. And when we acquire this technology,’

1986-KRL starts producing weapons-grade highly enriched uranium.

1986-Pakistan and China sign a historic civilian nuclear cooperation agreement. This agreement is signed by Foreign Ministers of the two countries in the presence of PAEC chairman and his Chinese counterparts in Beijing.

1987- Pakistan proposed to India an agreement on a bilateral or regional nuclear test ban treaty

1987- DTD develops a nuclear weapon design small enough to be carried by all PAF aircraft.

1987- Hot tests conducted by PAEC at the New Labs reprocessing plant.

1987- PAEC begins work on the heavy water production plant at Khushab and also on the Heavy Mechanical Complex-3 project.

1987- PAEC acquires a tritium purification and production plant from West Germany.

1987-PAEC reportedly receives a solid-fuel propellant plant from China.

1988- President Zia tells Carnegie Endowment delegation in interview that Pakistan has attained a nuclear capability `that is good enough to create an impression of deterrence.'

1989- PAEC Chairman Mr. Munir Ahmad Khan and Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan receive the Hilal-i-Imtiaz award from the Govt. of Pakistan

1989- November 2, PARR-2 achieves critical stage

1989-November, Pakistan and China reach an agreement for the supply of a 325 MW Chashma-1 Nuclear Power Plant (CHASNUPP-1). PAEC chairman says that this deal has broken an international embargo on Pakistan for the supply of nuclear power reactors.

1990-PAEC completes loading of all Pakistani nuclear fuel bundles in KANUPP.

1990-Dr. Samar Mubarakmand, appointed Director of the National Development Complex project.

1990- October ; President Bush announced that he could no longer provide Congress with Pressler Amendment certification that Pakistan does not possess a nuclear weapon. Economic and military aid was duly terminated, though the Bush administration continued to permit a limited number of commercial military sales to Pakistan. Pakistan handled the cutoff with little public rancor and committed itself to freezing the nuclear program in an attempt to placate the United States. The transfer of 71 F-16 A/B, P-3 Orion, Harpoon SSM, M-198 Towed-artillery, and other military equipment shipment is halted even though Pakistan paid for these items

1991-Pakistan proposed to India commencement of a multilateral conference on the nuclear proliferation in south Asia

1991- India and Pakistan enter agreement prohibiting attacks on each other's nuclear installations.

1991-PAEC completes the up-gradation of the 5 MW PARR-1 to 10 MW and coverts it from HEU to LEU fuel through indigenous efforts.

1991- April; Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad takes over as PAEC Chairman as Mr.Munir Ahmad Khan retires after 19 years.

1991-December; PAEC and China National Nuclear Corporation sign contract for the construction of the 325 MW CHASNUPP-1 project.

1992- PAEC cold tests its latest nuclear weapon design.

1992- Pakistani foreign secretary publicly discusses Pakistan's possession of `cores' of nuclear devices

1992- December; The US Government asked Pakistan to return eight US Navy frigates and a supply ship that had been leased to the Pakistan Navy, which accounted for more than half of Pakistan's major surface combatants because of sanctions.

1993- Pakistan proposed to India creation of a missile-free zone in South Asia

1993- National Development Complex completed and Dr. Samar Mubarakmand assumes charge as it’s Director-General.

1993- The Clinton Administration, citing what it considered to be asymmetrical treatment accorded to Pakistan and India over their respective nuclear programs, proposed revising the Pressler Amendment and certain "country-specific" sections of the Foreign Assistance Act. The administration argued that by the time nuclear nonproliferation provisions had been added to the Foreign Assistance Act, India had already acquired the capability to build nuclear weapons and thus Pakistan had borne the brunt of most United States sanctions.

1994- The Clinton Administration withdrew its proposal to revise the amendment because of strong criticism from a number of influential members of Congress, including Senator Pressler himself.

1994- April; Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott visits Islamabad to propose a one-time sale of F-16 fighter aircraft to Pakistan. Delivery of the planes would be contingent on specific commitments from Pakistan regarding its nuclear program, including a verifiable cap on the production of fissile materials. Talbott states that there is "broad agreement" between the United States and Pakistan on the goal of "first capping, then reducing, and eventually eliminating weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles from South Asia."

1995 – September; The Clinton Administration proposes revisions to the Pressler Amendment, citing the Amendment's roadblocks to cooperation with Pakistan's Government in areas such as combating terrorism and furthering US commercial interests in Pakistan. Under the Brown Amendment, the US would not deliver the controversial F-16 aircraft or resume an official military supply relationship with Pakistan, but the President decided to sell the F-16 aircraft to other countries and return the proceeds to Pakistan

1995- PAEC begins work on the solid-fuelled Shaheen missile system in NDC under the direction of Dr. Samar Mubarakmand.

1996- January 1st; India and Pakistan exchange lists of atomic installations which each side has pledged not to attack under an over seven-year-old confidence-building agreement

1996- January 23rd; The Brown amendment was signed into law to relieve some of the pressures created by the Pressler sanctions, which had crippled parts of the Pakistani military, particularly the Air Force. The Brown amendment allowed nearly $370 million of previously embargoed arms and spare parts to be delivered to Pakistan. It also permitted limited military assistance for the purposes of counter-terrorism, peacekeeping, anti-narcotics efforts, and some military training

1996- October 3rd, Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto called for the convening of a South Asia security conference that would deal with, among other things, Kashmir and the nuclear arms issue

1996- Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif while addressing a political rally said “Let me tell you that we [Pakistan] have atomic bombs… Pakistan's nuclear capability is now an established fact. Whatever we have, we have a right to keep it...."

1996- PAEC completes Pakistan’s first indigenous 50 MW Khushab plutonium production reactor which was begun in 1985-86.

1997- The Centre for Nuclear Studies attains the status of a University and it is renamed the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS)

1997- The Khushab plutonium production reactor goes critical.

1998- April, KRL tests the liquid-fuelled IRBM, Ghauri, to a range of 1,100 kms.

1998 April; PAEC “commissions” the 50 MW Khushab plutonium production reactor which becomes operational.

1998- May 11 and 13. India carries out five underground nuclear tests in Pokhran.

1998-May 28, PAEC’s Directorate of Technical Development carries out five nuclear tests at the Chaghi nuclear test site. Pakistan’s Foreign Office terms it as “Pakistan’s Finest Hour”.

1998-May 30, PAEC carries out one more nuclear test at the Kharan desert test site, 150 kms away from Chaghi. This is the most advanced and compact of all nuclear weapon designs tested by Pakistan.