Khan Network Should Be Top Priority, Experts Say

Shutting down the remnants of a smuggling network once led by top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan should be the top priority of nonproliferation policy-makers, according to experts polled this summer at a major nonproliferation conference in Washington (see GSN, July 27).

Some individuals participating in the network remain at large and “it is impossible to know whether blueprints for components or for a nuclear weapon have been distributed to actors that either were not in the original network or were undetected,” says a summary of the poll released this week by the Carnegie Endowment’s Nonproliferation Project.

Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program continues to rely on smuggling materials and technology into the country, raising concerns that “today’s importing network might … become tomorrow’s distributor to other buyers,” the summary says.

Beyond the problem of the Khan network, conference participants encouraged nations to find ways to reduce international demand for nuclear facilities and to address the implications of U.S. and Russian efforts to promote exports of nuclear fuel.

The experts also urged three strategies to help nuclear nonproliferation efforts:  seeking the help of the nuclear industry to report suspicious trade requests, specifying an international course of action when nations are found in noncompliance of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty requirements, and compounding the effect of U.S. economic sanctions by encouraging European nations to adopt similar measures (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace release, August 2007).

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