Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) (Urdu: ) is a federally funded independent governmental agency, concerned with research and development of nuclear power, promotion of nuclear science, energy conservation and the peaceful usage of nuclear technology.
Since its establishment in 1956, the PAEC has overseen the extensive development of nuclear infrastructure to support the economical uplift of Pakistan by founding institutions that focus on development on food irradiation and on nuclear medicine radiation therapy for cancer treatment. The PAEC organizes conferences and directs research at the country's leading universities. Since the 1960s, the PAEC is also a scientific research partner and sponsor of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), where Pakistani scientists have contributed to developing particle accelerators and research on high-energy physics. PAEC scientists regularly pay visits to CERN while taking part in projects led by CERN.
Until 2001, the PAEC was the civilian federal oversight agency that manifested the control of atomic radiation, development of nuclear weapons, and their testing. These functions were eventually taken over by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA), and the National Command Authority under the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Overview
Early history
Following the partition of the British Indian Empire by the United Kingdom in 1947, Pakistan emerged as a Muslim-dominated state. The turbulent nature of its emergence critically influenced the scientific development of Pakistan.
The establishment of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) in 1951 began Pakistan's research on physical sciences. In 1953, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower announced the Atoms for Peace program, of which Pakistan became its earliest partner. Research at PAEC initially followed a strict non-weapon policy issued by then-Foreign Minister Sir Zafarullah Khan. In 1955, the Government of Pakistan established a committee of scientists to prepare nuclear energy plans and build an industrial nuclear infrastructure throughout the country. As the Energy Council Act went into full effect, Prime Minister Huseyn Suhrawardy established the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) in March 1956. Its first chair was Nazir Ahmad – an experimental physicist. Other members of the PAEC included Technical member Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, an organic chemist at the University of Karachi, and Raziuddin Siddiqui, a mathematical physicist at the same university. Together, they both took charge of the research and development directorates of the commission. In 1958, Abdus Salam of the University of the Punjab also joined the commission, along with Munir Ahmad Khan who initially lobbied for acquiring an open pool reactor from the United States.
In 1958, PAEC Chairman Nazir Ahmad proposed to the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation the building of a heavy water production facility with the capacity to produce 50 kg of heavy water per day at Multan, but this proposal was not acted on. In 1960, I. H. Usmani was elevated as PAEC's second chair with the transfer of Nazir Ahmad at the Federal Bureau of Statistics. The Multan Heavy Water Production Facility reactor was built in 1962, financed by local fertilizer companies. In 1964, PAEC established its first research institute, the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH), at Nilore, and began negotiation for Pakistan's first commercial nuclear power plant to be built in Karachi. In 1965, the PAEC reached an agreement with Canadian General Electric to build a CANDU reactor in Karachi. Financial investment for the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant was provided by the Economic Coordination Committee, and Edward Durell Stone was commissioned to oversee the architectural design of PINSTECH. From 1965–71, the PAEC sent 600 scientists abroad for training in nuclear sciences. in 1969, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, agreed to supply a small scale nuclear reprocessing plant, with the capacity to extract 360 grams of plutonium per year. In 1973, the PAEC announced the discovery of large uranium deposits in Punjab.