Pakistan 'building new reactor'

A nuclear monitoring institute in the United States has published satellite images of what it says is a new nuclear reactor being built in Pakistan. The Institute for Science and International Security (Isis) said that it could produce enough plutonium to make 40 to 50 nuclear weapons a year. Pakistan's foreign ministry refused to comment on the charges, saying the Khushab nuclear site was well known.

A spokeswoman said that Pakistan was not pursuing any kind of arms race. The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says Pakistan is unhappy about Washington's recent agreement to share civilian nuclear technology with India. She says, contrary to the foreign ministry statement, analysts in Islamabad have warned that unless Pakistan gets a similar deal, or there is a policy of regional disarmament, conditions for a new arms race could be created. [...]