US experts disagree on size, capacity of Pak nuke reactor

Islamabad, Oct 6 (UNI) There is disagreement among American nuclear experts on the size, power and capacity of the Pakistani nuclear reactor being built at Khushab town in central Punjab province, a local media report said.

The first report with satellite images that a large reactor was under construction at Khushab came from the Institute of Science and International Security (ISIS). Since then, there have been varying estimates as to the size and power of the reactor, newspaper Daily Times reported.

A recent report said that the new reactor would operate at a power level consistent with the Bush administration's claim of between 40-100 MWth, the same power level as that of the first Khushab reactor.

However, experts in the US said the reactor will be capable of far more powerful operation.

The paper quoted David Albright and Paul Brannan of Institute of the ISIS as saying that they will continue to follow this reactor closely as the issue of its power is not yet settled.

''Our concern is especially great in this case because both countries hid the construction of this reactor from the public,'' they said, adding the governments of both the countries should be forthcoming with information substantiating their claims about the size of the second Khushab reactor, including its potential to be scaled upward in capacity once built.

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