IAEA experts endorse Pakistan’s nuclear safeguards after first review

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (MNTV) — Pakistan has established a robust nuclear security regime to protect its nuclear materials and facilities, an International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts found after completing a 12-day review of the country’s security framework.

The IAEA’s International Physical Protection Advisory Service conducted its first-ever assessment of Pakistan’s legislative and regulatory framework for the physical protection of nuclear materials and facilities.

The mission found that the security framework was appropriately implemented at the specific nuclear facility visited by the experts.

According to an IAEA press release issued Friday, Pakistan’s nuclear security regime is continually improved through periodic reviews. The country’s established capacity-building infrastructure also contributes to developing nuclear security expertise nationally and internationally.

The seven-member mission was led by Khammar Mrabit, a former director general of Morocco’s Agency for Nuclear and Radiological Safety and Security. The team included experts from China, Romania, Russia and Slovakia, along with two IAEA staff members.

Following the assessment, the experts recommended further improvements to Pakistan’s nuclear security regime and related procedures. They also identified several good practices at regulatory and facility levels.

“The first IPPAS mission in Pakistan is completed successfully, marking the country’s commitment in further enhancing regulatory and operational aspects of its well-established nuclear security regime,” Karine Herviou, IAEA deputy director general and head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, said at the mission’s closing ceremony.

“Pakistan’s contribution to building the skills of the nuclear security workforce is commendable and has a far-reaching impact,” she said.

The mission was hosted by the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority at the government’s request to help strengthen the country’s national nuclear security regime.

“Hosting the IPPAS mission underscores Pakistan’s unwavering commitment to maintaining a robust nuclear security regime across facilities and activities,” PNRA Chairman Zia Hussain Shah said.

“The valuable insights provided by the international experts’ team not only validate our robust physical protection measures but also offer an excellent baseline to further strengthen our legal and regulatory framework, national nuclear security regime, including facility-level practices,” he said.

IPPAS missions provide peer advice on implementing international instruments and IAEA guidance for protecting nuclear materials.

During these missions, international experts examine a country’s physical protection systems, compare them with international good practices and recommend improvements at national and facility-specific levels.

The team met with officials from the PNRA, the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and other relevant national stakeholders. It also visited the Kanupp Decommissioning Project at the Karachi Nuclear Power Generating Station, Pakistan’s first nuclear power plant.

The Canadian Deuterium Uranium reactor operated from 1971 until its permanent shutdown in 2021. The visit allowed the experts to observe decommissioning activities and spent fuel storage.

Pakistan is a party to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and ratified its 2005 amendment in 2016. The amendment expanded the convention’s scope, establishing obligations for the physical protection of peaceful nuclear facilities and nuclear materials during domestic use, storage and transport.