Multan Heavy Water Production Facility

The Heavy Water Production Facility in Multan is a heavy water production site located in Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.^[1] The plant, owned by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, has a nominal capacity of producing 13 metric tons (29,000 lb) of heavy water per year.^: 200^[2]

The federal Government of Pakistan has not published any reports about the facility but its existence is known through literary investigations.^[3]

Historical background

Planning of constructing a heavy water facility began in 1958 when Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) made a proposal to Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) for funding support– it was deferred due to Ministry of Finance (MoF) and PIDC had prioritizing the hydropower over nuclear power.^: 29^[2] Initially, this plant would use by-product from a nearby fertilizer plant and would produce 50 kilograms (0.050 t) of heavy water per day.^: 30^[2] Eventually, the PAEC built the plant on its own and secured funding from the Pak Arab Fertilizer– a private sector limited company.^[1] This plant was to be used for energy production using nuclear power in addition to understand more advanced science involving the properties of water.^: 29^[2]

The Deuterium oxide (or heavy water) is important for plutonium production since it is often used moderator in reactor that uses natural uranium.^: 200^[2] The heavy water molecule consists of one oxygen atom and two deuterium atoms– an isotope of hydrogen having an extra neutron in its nucleus.^: 29^[2] Though it occurs naturally, but it extremely rare, accounting only one in three thousand water molecules.^: 29^[2] The heavy water allows natural uranium to be used in reactor cores as opposed to enriched uranium which is expensive, time consuming and difficult to do.^: 29^[2] However, the isotope separation of water requires large facilities, finances, and technical support.^: 29^[2]

The PAEC discussed the plant with Germany, France, and Canada with proposing this facility under regular IAEA inspection– all had ejected from the proposal in 1974.^: 200^[2] Eventually, Belgium was a more willing partner that helped Pakistan constructing the plant but this facility cannot produce the heavy water requires to produce the weapon-grade plutonium and it is only used for its original mission envisioned in 1958.^{: 201–202}^[2] The Multan Heavy Water Production Facility is not subject to IAEA inspection but its secure operations and security is professed by the Government of Pakistan through its federal oversight agencies.^[4]

Fertilizer plant

Inside the Multan Heavy Water Production Facility, the Pak Arab Fertilizer (pvt) Ltd. operates a fertilizer factory with an annual output capacity of between 140,000 and 117,000 tons of ammonium nitrate, while a smaller fertilizer plant has an annual output capacity of 43,000 tons of urea.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Multan - Pakistan Special Weapons Facilities". nuke.fas.org. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Khan, Feroz (7 November 2012). "Part I: The Reluctant Phase". Eating Grass: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb (google books). Stanford, CA, USA: Stanford University Press. p. 500. ISBN 978-0-8047-8480-1. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
^ Koch, Andrew; Topping, Jennifer (1996). "Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons Program: A Status Report" (PDF). www.nonproliferation.org. Monterey Institute of International Studies: nonproliferation.org. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
^ "Key Issues: Nuclear Weapons: The Basics: Pakistani Nuclear Weapons Facilities". www.nuclearfiles.org. Retrieved 6 August 2023.