Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC)
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A backgrounder
OTHER NAME: N/A
LOCATION: Islamabad, Pakistan
SUBORDINATE TO: Autonomous
SIZE: Unknown
FACILITY STATUS: Operational
The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) owns and operates nuclear reactors in Pakistan and oversees a number of research institutes.
In March 1956, the Atomic Energy Council was established, consisting of a governing board and the PAEC. While originally focused exclusively on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the PAEC was tasked by President Z.A. Bhutto in 1972 to produce a nuclear weapon within five years. Later that year, PAEC Chairman Munir Ahmad Khan inaugurated Pakistan's first civilian nuclear power reactor, the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP). In the spring of 1976, a PAEC group surveyed the Chagai Hills region and selected a site at the Ras Koh mountain range for future nuclear testing. Those tests were conducted under the PAEC in May 1998.
In February 2000, Pakistan's National Security Council established the National Command Authority (NCA) to make all major decisions regarding nuclear policy, procurement, planning and use. Following the establishment of the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority and NCA's creation of the National Development Complex (NDC), the PAEC has reverted back to focusing on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
