LAHORE: Pakistan is most likely to become the world’s third biggest nuclear power in next 10 years, a reported revealed.
The report, jointly released by think tanks Carnegie and Stimson Center, said that Pakistan would have third largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in a decade, or have enough fissile material available for it. Currently, Pakistan is at sixth number after the US, Russia, France, UK and China and marginally ahead of India.
The report further revealed that Pakistan could possess 350 weapons in 10 years, which would make above France, China and UK that have 300, 250 and 225 nuclear weapons respectively. The US and Russia lead the count with an estimated 1,600 each.
Pakistan currently possess about 120 weapons (other estimates put in the 100-130 range), followed by India with around 100 (in the 80-100 range) and Israel with 80.
As per report, Pakistan has fixed a target for itself to produce 20 nuclear warheads a year. Authors put its capacity at between 14 and 27 nuclear weapons a year, to India’s two and five.
Here is how the math works, in the report: “India has about 600 kilograms of plutonium, while Pakistan has about 170 kilograms of plutonium and 3.1 metric tons of HEU (highly enriched uranium).
“Assuming that each nuclear weapon would require five kilograms of plutonium or 15 kilograms of HEU, with existing stockpiles of fissile material India could theoretically construct up to 120 weapons, while Pakistan could construct up to 240.
