Pakistan's nuclear facilities 'safe and secure': Masood
02 July, 2013
UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan assigns the "highest importance" to ensuring fool-proof safety and security for the country's nuclear programme, Ambassador Masood Khan told a high-level international conference on nuclear safety on Monday.
"Pakistan's nuclear materials, facilities and assets are safe and secure," he said in a speech to the conference being held at the headquarters of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.
Masood Khan, who is leading the Pakistan delegation, said nuclear security within a state was a fundamental national responsibility, as also a strategic global priority.Over the years, he said Pakistan had worked closely with the IAEA to strengthen nuclear security, and was implementing an Action Plan in cooperation with the agency.
"Our nuclear security regime is anchored in the principle of multilayered defence for the entire spectrum of any nuclear security threat - insider, outsider, and cyber threats - and is guided by the concept of the Five Ds, that is, to deter, detect, delay, defend, and destroy," the Pakistan envoy told delegates from around the world.
"We have established extensive physical protection measures, robust Command and Control structures, comprehensive export controls and an effective regulatory regime to ensure safety and security of nuclear materials and installations," he said, adding that as the apex body the National Command Authority, chaired by the Prime Minister, exercised command and control over all nuclear development, employment and security matters through its Secretariat - the Strategic Plans Division.
End.
|
