PAKISTAN NUCLEAR FACILITIES SHOULD NOT SURPRISE ANYONE INCLUDING INDIA: PAKISTAN FOREIGN MINISTER

Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar said in May 2000 that release of photographs showing its nuclear and missiles facilities should be no surprise to anyone including India. He told CNN while reacting to the satellite photographs showing Pakistan’s nuclear and rocket facilities published by a US policy group “Federation of American Scientists.”

 Sattar said, the fact is that this plant was included in the list of nuclear plants which Pakistan supplied to India in January this year which is an old plant. Similarly, he added, the missile plant which was shown in Sargodah, is also an old plant. He said, everybody knows that Pakistan tested medium and short range missiles in recent years so this should be no news to anyone who has followed the development of Pakistan’s relatively modest nuclear programme. “Therefore, the government has taken steps to ensure the credibility of our relatively small nuclear programme,” The Foreign Minister said, the release of photographs ignored the context of Pakistan’s nuclear programme that it is a counter to India’s much bigger and long-standing nuclear capability Pointing out India’s huge rise in military expenditure, he said, Pakistan’s total defence budget is US$ 3 billion while our neighbour (India) has added US& 3 billion to its military spending for the next year. To yet another question, Sattar said, it makes no sense to analyze Pakistani nuclear programme alone, adding, it can only be understood relative to India’s nuclear programme.

 

 

PAKISTAN NUCLEAR PROGRAMME: WHEN IS THE NEXT TEST?

 “ Pakistan is a declared nuclear weapon state and signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty will not alter its status. Talking to a panel of journalists he said Pakistan did not need a certification for its nuclear status. The international community does not deny this fact.Said Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar said on Feb. 6, 2000:

Sattar said the nuclear status of Pakistan would not be affected by signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Sattar clarified that even if Pakistan signs the treaty, it will not forego its right to conduct further tests, if India conducted further tests. “Whether Pakistan and India become parties to the Comprehensive Test Ban treaty or not, that will not affect the nuclear status of either country or their right to maintain and even develop their  nuclear arsenals,” said the Foreign Minister.

Sattar ,the word “recognition” of nuclear status is used in the context of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which was negotiated over thirty years ago. Then there were only five declared nuclear weapons states. Pakistan has decided to set up National Command and Control Authority (NCA) for its nuclear weapons It said, when Pakistan carried out nuclear tests in May 1998, it had become evident that Pakistan is a nuclear country.

Containing nuclear dangers in South Asia will command our top priority. To that end the Chief Executive's pledge of restraint and responsibility will reinforce his government's search for effective, non-discriminatory, multilateral and bilateral agreements. Historically, Pakistan was not the first to build weapon-oriented nuclear plants in our region. Even after the Indian atomic bomb test in 1974, Pakistan observed restraint. Despite achieving explosion capability, Pakistan did not conduct a test.

In 1996 Pakistan voted in favour of the CTBT. It did not sign the treaty only because we suspected India's intentions. The apprehension was confirmed on May 11, 1998. Worse, after the multiple explosions, Indian government ministers engaged in threats and bluster, leaving Pakistan no choice except to demonstrate its deterrent capability and thus to safeguard its peace and security. Immediately thereafter, Pakistan declared a moratorium on further tests. As in the past so also in the future, Pakistan will not take a provocative initiative. We will remain sensitive to the world community's concerns for non-proliferation. Minimum credible deterrence will remain our policy. We will not participate in build-up of strategic arsenals. A nuclear arms race by Pakistan is a figment. We cannot afford it. Nor is it necessary.

CTBT is an important milestone on the road to vertical and horizontal non-proliferation. But into it is the principle of nondiscrimination. It cannot come into force until all 44 nuclear-capable states, including Pakistan and India, sign and ratify the treaty. We have therefore no objection of principle to the treaty. Yet our people need to be reassured against a discriminatory approach on part of one or more nuclear weapon powers, offering rewards to one signatory but refusing to extend the same to another. Clarifications on this aspect and removal of sanctions will be indispensable for domestic consensus on this sensitive issue. Reduction of tension between Pakistan and India is obviously desirable. Overt nuclearisation in 1998 added to the necessity and urgency of eliminating flash points. Pakistan remains ready to respond to the international community's call for a dialogue to address the root causes of tension between Pakistan and India, including specifically Kashmir.

MAN MADE EARTHQUAKES A REALITY Modern science has been misused for destructive purpose to such an such an extent that it is possible to create artificial earthquakes or Man made earthquakes: "Often individuals wonder whether construction of a reservoir, hydrocarbon production, or the injection of fluids into the ground caused an earthquake at a specific location. Several well-documented cases exist where such large engineering projects and damaging earthquakes are genetically related. In most of these cases, the engineering projects themselves most likely did not create the stresses that caused the earthquake, but rather changed local conditions in such a way as to allow an earthquake to occur." says a scientific report. " The difference between inducing an earthquake and triggering an earthquake is subtle but important; generally, human activity will not create enough stress in the underlying rocks to cause  an earthquake large enough to be recorded by distant seismographs. However, the activity can change the physical conditions at depth and thus allow an earthquake to occur; we call these seismic events triggered earthquakes," it says..  The different activities that can trigger or induce earthquakes include impounding of deep artificial water reservoirs, underground mining, large-scale surface quarrying, high pressure fluid injection, removal of subterranian fluids for hydrocarbon production, and underground explosions. For example, reservoir-induced seismicity has been documented in China, central Africa, Greece, India, Egypt, Russia, Italy, South Carolina, Arizona, and California (Oroville Reservoir). The first well documented example occurred when Lake Mead, formed by Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, began filling in the late 1930's. The largest and most damaging reservoir-induced earthquake occurred on December 10, 1967, at Koyna, India , and claimed over 200 lives while destroying much of the Koyna Nagar town," says one report.  "Pumping fluids into the ground at high pressure plays a major role in geothermal power generation, oil production, solution mining, and hazardous waste disposal. The first well-documented case of triggered seismicity due to fluid injection occurred at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal near Denver, Colorado during the early 1960's, where there was no previously recorded seismicity. Following these earthquakes, a fluid-injection experiment carried out in Rangely, Colorado, in a producing oil field proved that injecting high pressure fluids into geologic formations under the right conditions of stress could trigger earthquakes.  In several locations, earthquakes and faulting have also accompanied fluid extraction. These earthquakes occur particularly in large shallow hydrocarbon fields from the release of stresses built up throughout the producing region as reservoir fluid pressures are reduced. Contraction of the reservoir rock drives the rock above and below the producing layer into compression, while rocks on the edge of the producing field extend since they are not displaced as much as rocks directly above. Examples of seismicity probably triggered by fluid extraction include Goose Creek, Texas; Buena Vista Hills, California; Rocky Mountain House, Canada; Lacq, France; Fashing, Texas; and probably the most clear example, Willmington oil field, California. "Mining activities involve the removal of mass from a continuos body and easily can change physical conditions in the surrounding rock. Mine excavations act as stress concentrators, often leading to increases in seismic activity ranging from microseismic acoustic emissions to full scale tremors with magnitude of 5. Mine seismicity includes spallations, tunnel collapse, gas outbursts, "bumps," and rockbursts, as well as real earthquakes. Some examples of mine-induced seismicity include Wappinger's Falls, New York, in a dolomitic limestone quarry reaching a depth of about 50 meters and surface area of about 1 square kilometer  and in the Belchatow trench, Poland, at a large strip mining operation centering on brown coal at about 200 meters depth

Artificial earthquake to test artificial heart: Artificial earthquake is also stimulated to test other healthcare products. Brisbane medical technology company, Micromedical, used the National Science and Technology Center’s earthquake simulator to run the latest round of tests on the company’s artificial heart – a new product targetted at a world market estimated to be worth $ 12 billion. A report last November quoted Micromedical chief executive Dr John Woodard as saying that the simulator would be used for two days in a bid to replicate the type of motions the artificial heart would experience in a human body. Micromedical’s artificial heart, or heart pump, which has successfully undergone a series of animal trials in the year 2000, is expected to be ready for human clinical trials next year. KAREN NAKAMURA has published in Coastal Post,  a specialised magazine comparing nuclear tests and the corresponding earthquake caused by the test. “The Chinese and French have, so far, cleverly held their blast sizes down to low-middle range. I say cleverly because if the powers-that-be are developing weapons based on creating earthquakes in designated areas, they couldn't better obscure the results than set off tests in the 10 to 30 kiloton range. These tests have usually set off corresponding quakes of the same magnitude. Several small quakes occurred in Healdsburg and the East Bay several days after the last Chinese and French tests. Since the second Chinese test on August 17, 1995  there was a constant series of hurricanes in the Caribbean. It seemed those hurricanes were winding down when the French test was set off and the hurricanes continued forming.  Some scientific aspects of man made earthquakes:  "Often individuals wonder whether construction of a reservoir, hydrocarbon production, or the injection of fluids into the ground caused an earthquake at a specific location. Several well-documented cases exist where such large engineering projects and damaging earthquakes are genetically related. In most of these cases, the engineering projects themselves most likely did not create the stresses that caused the earthquake, but rather changed local conditions in such a way as to allow an earthquake to occur." says  " The difference between inducing an earthquake and triggering an earthquake is subtle but important; generally, human activity will not create enough stress in the underlying rocks to cause  an earthquake large enough to be recorded by distant seismographs. However, the activity can change the physical conditions at depth and thus allow an earthquake to occur; we call these seismic events triggered earthquakes," it says..  "The different activities that can trigger or induce earthquakes include impounding of deep artificial water reservoirs, underground mining, large-scale surface quarrying, high pressure fluid injection, removal of subterranian fluids for hydrocarbon production, and underground explosions. For example, reservoir-induced seismicity has been documented in China, central Africa, Greece, India, Egypt, Russia, Italy, South Carolina, Arizona, and California (Oroville Reservoir). The first well documented example occurred when Lake Mead, formed by Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, began filling in the late 1930's. The largest and most damaging reservoir-induced earthquake occurred on December 10, 1967, at Koyna, India (M 6.3), and claimed over 200 lives while destroying much of the Koyna Nagar town," says a report.  "Pumping fluids into the ground at high pressure plays a major role in geothermal power generation, oil production, solution mining, and hazardous waste disposal. The first well-documented case of triggered seismicity due to fluid injection occurred at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal near Denver, Colorado during the early 1960's, where there was no previously recorded seismicity. Following these earthquakes, a fluid-injection experiment carried out in Rangely, Colorado, in a producing oil field proved that injecting high pressure fluids into geologic formations under the right conditions of stress could trigger earthquakes.  In several locations, earthquakes and faulting have also accompanied fluid extraction. These earthquakes occur particularly in large shallow hydrocarbon fields from the release of stresses built up throughout the producing region as reservoir fluid pressures are reduced. Contraction of the reservoir rock drives the rock above and below the producing layer into compression, while rocks on the edge of the producing field extend since they are not displaced as much as rocks directly above. Examples of seismicity probably triggered by fluid extraction include Goose Creek, Texas; Buena Vista Hills, California; Rocky Mountain House, Canada; Lacq, France; Fashing, Texas; and probably the most clear example, Willmington oil field, California  "Mining activities involve the removal of mass from a continuos body and easily can change physical conditions in the surrounding rock. Mine excavations act as stress concentrators, often leading to increases in seismic activity ranging from microseismic acoustic emissions to full scale tremors with magnitude of 5. Mine seismicity includes spallations, tunnel collapse, gas outbursts, "bumps," and rockbursts, as well as real earthquakes. Some examples of mine-induced seismicity include Wappinger's Falls, New York, in a dolomitic limestone quarry reaching a depth of about 50 meters and surface area of about 1 square kilometer (M 3.3); and in the Belchatow trench, Poland, at a large strip mining operation centering on brown coal at about 200 meters depth