Munir Ahmad Khan

Who was Munir Ahmad Khan?

Munir Ahmad Khan, was a Pakistani nuclear engineer, scientist, who served as the chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission from 1972 to 1991. He is credited along with Zulfikar Bhutto, on the technical side as the "father of the Pakistan's atomic bomb project", for his role in Pakistan's integrated atomic bomb project; the clandestine Cold war program developed the atomic weapons that ultimately resulted in first successful atomic bomb testing on May 1998 in Chagai Weapon-testing Laboratories; these tests are considered one of few milestones in Pakistan's history in which, the nuclear devices were developed and produced under a programme of which Khan served its technical director.

Since 1958, Khan served as the technical adviser to the newly created PAEC, and used his position in the International Atomic Energy Agency for lobbying for country's industrial nuclear power development. He was a proponent of a arm race with India whilst remaining associated with his country's various strategic science projects for more than four decades until his death in 1999. After securing the chairmanship of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency from 1986–87, he made a strong case for Pakistan's peaceful development on nuclear energy. His notable achievements as Chairman of PAEC include the establishment of the first international physics conference in Pakistan; promoting research in physics, mathematical sciences, and science and technology in the country; the development of the nuclear fuel cycle including the setting up of the plutonium program as well as the establishment of New Laboratories reprocessing plant. In 1986, he entered into a comprehensive civil nuclear energy agreement with China, which led the established the C-1 reactor at the Chashma Nuclear Power Complex.