[sacw] Pakistan's nuclear watchdog no good

[Harsh Kapoor]

////////////////////////////////
South Asians Against Nukes Post
20 September 2000
////////////////////////////////

Asia Times
20 September 2000

NUCLEAR WATCHDOG FAILS TO PROVIDE PEACE OF MIND 

By Muddassir Rizvi

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's military government is setting up a new nuclear
safety regulator, but environmental groups say this will be of no use
without first removing the thick veil of secrecy around the nation's
nuclear programs. In particular, they are demanding major institutional
changes for greater transparency in nuclear matters.

Pakistan, which conducted six nuclear test explosions in 1988, keeps its
nuclear-related establishments in the power, health and farm sectors, under
tight secrecy. These are supervised by the state-run Pakistan Atomic Energy
Commission (PAEC), which also runs educational institutes offering degrees
in nuclear studies. But PAEC also worked with the military on the country's
nuclear weapon development program and supervised the 1998 nuclear tests.

The government's plan is to set up an independent Nuclear Regulatory
Authority. ''Apart from keeping a check on nuclear power stations, the
proposed authority would also ensure safe use of the atom in medical,
industry and other related facilities,'' a PAEC official was quoted as
saying by English language newspaper The Dawn.

The proposed Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority will be established by
an ordinance which will later be approved by the federal cabinet, the
official said. However, green groups and anti-nuclear activists accuse the
government of keeping the draft of this important legislation a tightly
guarded secret.

''PAEC refused to give us a copy of the draft, saying that the document
that is on the cabinet's agenda is confidential,'' said anti-nuclear
activist AH Nayyar, who teaches physics at Islamabad's premier Quaid-i-Azam
University.

Anti-nuclear groups fear that the creation of the proposed authority is
merely a move to satisfy national and international concerns over
Pakistan's nuclear safety record. They say it will be a replica of the
existing Nuclear Regulatory Board, which oversees safety issues in nuclear
establishments.

Set up in 1994, the board is headed by PAEC's chairman and includes some
present and former officials of the commission. ''Given this structure, it
is impossible for the board to be independent and ensure that safety issues
are given highest priority,'' says the Advocacy Development Network (ADN),
an Islamabad-based coalition of non-governmental organizations.

Anti-nuclear groups also say that the structure of the existing Nuclear
Regulatory Board violates the provisions of international nuclear safety
conventions, to which Pakistan is a signatory. One of these explicitly
requires member states to ensure effective separation between the body
responsible for supervising nuclear safety and the one promoting the use of
nuclear energy.

''Of the 15 nuclear-related facilities in Pakistan, only five are inspected
by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The dangers to the health
and safety of workers in other facilities and people living around them are
unknown,'' says ADN.

According to Zia Mian, a Pakistani nuclear physicist at Princeton
University in the United States, ''PAEC should be broken up into its four
separate functions.'' Anti-nuclear activists say that ending PAEC's
monopoly over nuclear matters is the only way to ensure safety and
transparency in nuclear establishments. Once PAEC is restructured, the
power program should contain no secrets and thus all its activities,
operations and reports, should be made public.

He suggests merging the PAEC's power generation functions with the
state-run Water and Power Development Authority that owns and runs power
utilities in Pakistan. Similarly, PAEC-run educational facilities should be
made part of the government-run university system.

Besides 12 nuclear medical and farm research centers, PAEC runs two nuclear
power plants, the 137 megawatt Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP) and the
300 MW Chashma Nuclear Power Plant, which began operating this year in the
Punjab province. It's this second plant that anti-nuclear groups say is a
cause for concern.

While the IAEA raised several safety concerns about KANNUP in a 1993
review, green groups have questioned the design and location of the Chashma
plant. The latter is a copy of China's Qinshan nuclear reactor, which was
the site of a major accident a couple of years ago. Critics argue that
Chashma is located in a seismic zone and its design has inherent flaws as
proved by the accident at Qinshan.

PAEC has turned down a demand for an independent assessment of the Chashma
plant. The commission has argued that nuclear technology is a highly
sophisticated subject and considerable specialization and experience is
needed for a safety assessment. ''It is not possible for any individual or
group without adequate background and experience to understand the
technical details of a nuclear safety plant,'' says PAEC.

Officials in the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) say the
proposed nuclear safety authority would be more independent and
transparent, as it will have members from other government departments like
the Ministry of Environment. ''The proposed authority will have
jurisdiction over all nuclear-related establishments,'' says Asif Shujja
Khan, director general of the EPA. Under the 1997 Environmental Protection
Act, the EPA is responsible for safety in all establishments dealing with
nuclear radiation. But PAEC is criticized for effectively keeping all
nuclear matters out of the EPA's jurisdiction.

According to Pakistani nuclear expert Mian, the answer is to place the
proposed Nuclear Regulatory Authority under the supervision of the
environment ministry as in Britain and Germany. Pakistan's military-related
nuclear establishments should have a separate supervisory mechanism, on the
pattern of the American Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, he says.

(Inter Press Service)