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Laboratorios de investigación Khan
خان تجربہ گاہ و مراکز تحقیق
Khan Research Laboratories logo.gif
Nombre anterior
  • Laboratorios de investigación en ingeniería
  • Laboratorios de investigación Kahuta
  • Laboratorios de investigación Dr. AQ Khan
  • Proyecto-706
Establecido31 de julio de 1976 [1] (1976-07-31)
Campo de investigación
LocalizaciónKahuta , distrito de Rawalpindi , Pakistán
Afiliaciones
Sitio webwww.krl.com.pk/

El Dr. AQ Khan Research Laboratories , [2] [nota 1] ( Urdu : خان تجربہ گاہ و مراکز تحقیق ) o KRL para abreviar, es un instituto nacional de investigación de múltiples programas financiado con fondos federales y un laboratorio nacional dedicado principalmente al uranio enriquecimiento , supercomputación y mecánica de fluidos . Está gestionado por el Ministerio de Energía del Gobierno de Pakistán . [3] El laboratorio está ubicado en Kahuta , a poca distancia al noreste de Rawalpindi , Punjab , Pakistán.. [3] [4]

El sitio fue organizado para producir material nuclear apto para armas , principalmente uranio apto para armas , como parte del programa secreto de bombas atómicas de Pakistán en los años posteriores a la guerra indo-pakistaní de 1971 . [5] Elegido para ser un lugar de alto secreto, fue construido en secreto por el Cuerpo de Ingenieros del Ejército de Pakistán . Fue encargado por ingenieros del ejército con científicos civiles que se unieron al sitio a fines de 1976. [5] A mediados de la década de 1970, el sitio fue la piedra angular de la primera etapa del programa de bombas atómicas de Pakistán, y es uno de los muchos sitios donde Se llevó a cabo una investigación científica clasificada sobre bombas atómicas. [6]

La KRL tiene prestigio por realizar investigación y desarrollo para poder producir uranio altamente enriquecido (HEU) utilizando el método Zippe de centrifugación de gas ; el otro usuario de este método es el Grupo Urenco en los Países Bajos . [6] Desde sus inicios, se ha contratado a muchos técnicos, en su mayoría físicos y matemáticos, asistidos por ingenieros (tanto militares como civiles), químicos y científicos de materiales. [7] Se delega a científicos e ingenieros profesionales para visitar este instituto, después de someterse a una estricta selección y verificación de antecedentes, para participar como visitantes en proyectos científicos. [7]

A partir de su misión actual, KRL es uno de los sitios de investigación de ciencia y tecnología más grandes de Pakistán, y lleva a cabo investigación y desarrollo multidisciplinarios en campos como seguridad nacional , exploración espacial y supercomputación . [6]

Historia [ editar ]

Artículo principal: Proyecto Kahuta

As early as the 1970s, the early stage of Pakistan's atomic bomb program focused its primary efforts on producing and developing a weapons-grade plutonium nuclear device under the research led by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) at its national laboratory, the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) in Nilore.[8] In 1974, India conducted a surprise nuclear test, (Smiling Buddha), so PAEC launched a clandestine uranium enrichment project with nuclear engineer Sultan Mahmoodconvirtiéndose en su director: el Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan se incorporó al programa en 1974 como asesor. [8] El trabajo en el sitio de Kahuta fue iniciado por el Primer Ministro de Pakistán , Zulfikar Ali Bhutto . [9] [10]

Después de estar en desacuerdo con los cálculos del director Sultan Mahmood y el informe de viabilidad presentado al gobierno, el primer ministro Bhutto separó el trabajo de PAEC y nombró al Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan como científico jefe en 1976. El programa de uranio se trasladó a Kahuta, donde se estableció el proyecto como el Laboratorios de Investigación en Ingeniería (ERL). Según el Dr. Khan, los materiales se importaron de Europa con la ayuda de dos oficiales de adquisiciones; uno de ellos era el ingeniero Ikramul Haq Khan, delegado en KRL a través del general de división Ali Nawab , Hilal-i-Imtiaz (militar) 1979. [11] [12]

Wanting a capable civil engineer to supervise the construction, Bhutto asked the Chief of Army Staff for the selection, and the Engineer-in-Chief chose Brigadier Zahid Ali Akbar to lead the program.[9] Because the experiments were deemed too dangerous to conduct in a major city, the operations were moved in a remote mountainous northern areas of Pakistan.[13] The entire site and Kahuta was rebuilt in the 1980s by the Corps of Engineers under Lieutenant-General Zahid Ali Akbar, with logistics provided by the Military Engineering Service.[13][14][15] Conducting classified research, the facility was heavy secured by both the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).[13] All employees needed badges to pass a checkpoint, and the laboratories are electronically fenced and guarded.[13]

El ERL estaba destinado a estimular la innovación y proporcionar competencia al diseño de armas en PAEC. [8] Algunos científicos de renombre, el Dr. GD Alam (físico teórico) de PAEC se unieron al ERL y enriquecieron el uranio en Kahuta, mientras que el Dr. TM Shah (un matemático) y Anwar Ali (un físico) y algunos otros científicos también lo apoyaron. . [5] [16] El sitio instaló rápidamente miles de centrifugadoras de gas , utilizando el método Zippe , para funcionar a aproximadamente 65.000 revoluciones por minuto (rpm) durante un promedio de 10 años. El uranio-235 (U 235) que contiene solo ~ 0,7% de material enriquecido se lleva a más del 90,0% a través de tres etapas de enriquecimiento, dejando el material original agotado del 0,7% al 0,2%, que ahora es de grado civil y militar . [ aclaración necesaria ] [16] En la década de 1970, ERL dependió en gran medida del método de URENCO , pero disminuyó la dependencia en 1979 después de que se desarrollaron métodos locales con esfuerzos estudiados y aprendidos por el Dr. GD Alam y el Dr. T. M Shah. KRL hizo afirmaciones no verificadas en 1983-84 sobre la realización de pruebas de diseño de armas. [16] Después de visitar el sitio en mayo de 1981, el presidente Zia-ul-Haq rebautizó a ERL comoKhan Research Laboratory (KRL) en honor a su fundador y científico senior Abdul Qadeer Khan . [17] La KRL estableció un sistema de control numérico por computadora para controlar las ultracentrífugas en 1983. En 1986, KRL comenzó a producir uranio altamente enriquecido (HEU) y a desarrollar el krytron , mientras que el trabajo clasificado sobre el diseño de armas de uranio se llevó a cabo con uranio. el hexafluoruro (UF 6 ) se reduce a uranio metálico y se mecaniza en fosas de armas. La KRL comenzó a publicar una serie de artículos académicos sobre métodos numéricos y computacionales. for centrifuge design, including a 1987 article co-authored by Abdul Qadeer Khan on techniques for balancing sophisticated ultracentrifuge rotors.[18]

In the 1990s, KRL had a number of the most high-performance supercomputer and parallel computing systems installed at the facility.[5] A parallel Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) division was established which specialized in conducting high performance computations on shock waves in weapons effect from the outer surface to the inner core by using difficult differential equations of the state of the materials used in the bomb under high pressure.[16]

En un informe de investigación publicado por Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), se informó que científicos chinos estuvieron presentes en Kahuta a principios de la década de 1980, un indicador no confirmado de la ayuda china en el desarrollo de equipos en Kahuta. [19] En 1996, la comunidad de inteligencia de Estados Unidos sostuvo que China proporcionó anillos magnéticos para cojinetes de suspensión especiales montados en la parte superior de cilindros centrífugos giratorios. En 2005, se reveló que el gobierno militar del presidente Zia-ul-Haq hizo que KRL dirigiera un programa de UME en el programa de armas nucleares de China . [20] Abdul Qadeer Khan also alleged that "KRL has built a centrifuge facility for China in Hanzhong city".[20]

Extended research[edit]

Main articles: Government College University, Lahore and Karachi University

The academic research programs and development opportunities at the KRL are supported by the physics departments of the Government College University in Lahore in Punjab and the University of Karachi in Sindh.[21][22] The KRL supports its physics program through funding and providing scholarship to physics and engineering students at the Government College University.[23]

The continuing efforts to make the laboratories more science efficient led the Ministry of Science (MoST) to grant a three research and fellowship programmes with the Government College University with the support of Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF).[24][25] Since 1980 at present, the KRL continues to develop the research work on computational mathematics, supercomputing and advanced mathematics to the extended applications to natural sciences.[26]

In 1999, the KRL established a research institute on computer science at Kahuta, which was later integrated to University of Engineering and Technology in Taxila.[27]

The civilian research on biotechnology, biology and Genetic Engineering is supported by the KRL at the University of Karachi,[28] with the support from Pakistan Science Foundation.[29] The KRL organized a conference on Computational biology in Islamabad to present overview of the scope of computational sciences.[30]

National security program[edit]

Apart from researching on uranium and developing the uranium enrichment facilities, the KRL includes a ballistic missile-space research laboratories[19] that competes with the PAEC to produce advanced ballistic missiles ranging for targeting enemy combatant targets and the space exploration. Its space-missile exploration projects based on producing the liquid fuel rockets in comparison to solid fuel rockets projects of the National Development Complex (NDC). The KRL's missile projects are widely believed to be based on North Korean technology; exchanges took place in the late 1990s. The following missiles have been produced by KRL:[31]

  • Ghauri I (Hatf V) – first tested in 1999.
  • Ghauri II – has a range of 2,000–2,500 km.
  • Hatf-I

The KRL performs variety of weapons science and engineering projects for Pakistan Armed Forces. Since the 1980s, the KRL is involved in numerous military equipment and conventional weaponry development projects. The resulting systems have been put into service by the Pakistan's military and exported to other friendly nations. The following is a list of known equipment produced under these projects:[19][31]

  • Guided missiles:
    • Anza series of man-portable air defence systems.
    • Baktar-Shikan man-portable anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system.
    • Modules for the BGM-71 TOW ATGM.
  • Electrical and electronic equipment:
    • Power conditioners for the above missile systems.
    • Switched-mode power supplies for the following air defence systems:
      • LAADS radar, Skyguard radar, Air Defense Automation System.
  • Equipment for clearance of anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, including remote control mine exploders (RCME) and mine-sweeping line charges.
  • Laser equipment:
    • Laser range-finders, laser warning receivers, laser aiming devices, a laser actuated targeting system for training tank gunners.
  • Reactive armour kits for armoured vehicles and APFS-DS anti-tank ammunition for main battle tanks.
  • Digital goniometers.

KRL is said to have entered into an agreement with Malaysian businessman Shah Hakim Zain to export weapons to Malaysia.[32]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Previously known at various times as Project-706, Engineering Research Laboratories, and Kahuta Research Laboratories

References[edit]

  1. ^ Aziz, Shaikh (26 July 2015). "A leaf from history: Defending Kahuta". DAWN.COM.
  2. ^ Originally, the concept was conceived during the post-1971 war, and the programme was launched in 1974 under the codename "Project-706". In 1976, the laboratories was founded in 1976 as a highly sensitive, centralized, and secretive facility to coordinate the scientific research for the clandestine atomic bomb project. The laboratories were founded by Abdul Qadeer Khan who served its senior scientist at first, and was built under the engineering management of the Corps of Engineers. Since 1976, the laboratories has been multiply referred as to "Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL)"; the "Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL)"; Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories (also KRL)" or alternatively denoted as "Khan Labs"
  3. ^ a b Moltz, Sarah J. Diehl, James Clay (2008). Nuclear weapons and nonproliferation : a reference handbook (2nd ed.). Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1598840711.
  4. ^ "Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) | Facilities | NTI". www.nti.org.
  5. ^ a b c d Khan, A. Q. (8 September 2014). "Unsung heroes Part X". News International, Part X. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014.
  6. ^ a b c Pike, John. "Kahuta: Pakistan's Special Labs". Tuesday, May 16, 2000 12:00:01 AM. Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  7. ^ a b "Sample Preparation Facilities". GC University Press. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  8. ^ a b c Khan, Feroz Hassan (2012). Eating grass : the making of the Pakistan bomb. Stanford, Calif. [u.s]: Stanford University Press. p. 521. ISBN 9780804776004. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  9. ^ a b Khan, Abdul Qadeer (29 July 2009). "Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Kahuta". The News International, 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  10. ^ Babar (M.Sc Civil Engineering), Farhatullah. "Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the atomic bomb project". Pakistan Peoples Party, (Directorate-General for the Public Relations and Media Broadcasting Publications). Directorate-General for the Public Relations and Media Broadcasting Publications. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  11. ^ "Unsung heroes part XVI". Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  12. ^ "Unsung heroes part XV". Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  13. ^ a b c d Koelbl, Susanne (28 June 2011). "'We May Be Naive, But We Are Not Idiots', Pakistan Nuclear Development". Spiegel Online. Susanne Koelbl of the Spiegel Online. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  14. ^ PA, Pakistan Army. "KAK Bridge to KRL". Frontier Works Organizations (1989). Directorate of Inter-Services Public Relations. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  15. ^ Khan, A. Q. (29 September 2014). "Unsung heroes Part XIII". News iNternational. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014.
  16. ^ a b c d From the Memoirs of Dr. A.Q. Khan (22 September 2014). "Part XII". News International. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  17. ^ Pike, John. "Kahuta: Khan Research Laboratories: A.Q. Khan Laboratories: Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL)". The Federation of American Scientists (Updated Tuesday, May 16, 2000 12:00:01 AM ). Federation of American Scientists (FAS). Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  18. ^ Upadhyaya, Gopal S. (2011). "§Dr. A.Q. Khan of Pakistan". Men of Metals and Materials: My Memoires. Bloomington, Indiana, United States: iUniverse.com. p. 248pp. ISBN 9698500006.
  19. ^ a b c "Kahuta - Pakistan Special Weapons Facilities". www.globalsecurity.org.
  20. ^ a b Kan, Shirley A. (2009). "§A.Q. Khan's nuclear network". China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy issues. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service (CRS): Congressional Research Service (CRS). pp. 5–6. ISBN Congressional Research Service (CRS).
  21. ^ "Physics – GC University, Lahore". Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  22. ^ "Department of Physics, Karachi University". uok.edu.pk. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  23. ^ "Salam Chair in Physics, Department of Physics". GC University Press release. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  24. ^ GCU. "Department of Physics, KRL". Government College University. Department of Physics and Mathematics (GCU). Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  25. ^ GCU. "Abdus Salam Chair in Physics in KRL". Government College University. Abdus Salam Chair in Physic (GCU). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  26. ^ Techmoot. "Tasneem Shah of KRL". Techmoot. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  27. ^ staff. "Dr. A. Q. Khan Institute of Computer Sciences and Information Technology". Dr. A. Q. Khan Institute of Computer Sciences and Information Technology. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  28. ^ staff. "DR. A. Q. Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering". Karachi University Press. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  29. ^ staff correspondents (28 October 2013). "Stressing Science". Express Tribune, 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  30. ^ News Desk (22 October 2013). "Conference: Students advised to adopt modern research techniques". Express News. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  31. ^ a b http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/pakistan/missile/3294_3321.html
  32. ^ "Malaysia Today Article". Archived from the original on 24 July 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2010.

External links[edit]

  • Kahuta Research Laboratories
  • Global Security Report
  • Pakistan developed more powerful centrifuges, Nucleonics Week, 29 January 2007