An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team has found Pakistan’s nuclear security arrangements robust following a 12-day review, while recommending further improvements to the country’s regulatory framework and security procedures.
The International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS) mission carried out the first assessment of Pakistan’s laws and regulations governing the protection of nuclear materials and facilities.
The team also found that the security framework was being appropriately implemented at the facility it visited.
In a statement issued on Friday, the IAEA said that Pakistan continued to improve its nuclear security arrangements through periodic reviews and had established infrastructure for developing expertise in the field.
The seven-member team was led by Khammar Mrabit, a former director general of Morocco’s Agency for Nuclear and Radiological Safety and Security.
It included experts from China, Romania, the Russian Federation and Slovakia, along with two IAEA staff members.
The mission made recommendations for strengthening Pakistan’s nuclear security regime and identified 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 Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) Chairman Zia Hussain Shah said the assessment provided a basis for further strengthening the country’s legal and regulatory framework and security practices at individual facilities.
The PNRA hosted the mission at the government’s request.
During the visit, the experts met officials from the regulator, the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and other national stakeholders.
They also visited the Kanupp Decommissioning Project at Karachi Nuclear Power Generating Station, where they observed decommissioning work and spent fuel storage.
The plant’s Canadian Deuterium Uranium reactor operated from 1971 until its permanent shutdown in 2021.
Pakistan ratified the 2005 amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material in 2016.
The amendment extended international obligations to the physical protection of peaceful nuclear facilities and materials during domestic use, storage and transport.
