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The Heavy Water Production Facility in Multan is a heavy water production site located in Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.[1] The plant, owned by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, has a nominal capacity of producing 13 metric tons (29,000 lb) of heavy water per year.: 200 [2]
The federal Government of Pakistan has not published any reports about the facility but its existence is known through literary investigations.[3]
Planning of constructing a heavy water facility began in 1958 when Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) made a proposal to Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) for funding support– it was deferred due to Ministry of Finance (MoF) and PIDC had prioritizing the hydropower over nuclear power.: 29 [2] Initially, this plant would use by-product from a nearby fertilizer plant and would produce 50 kilograms (0.050 t) of heavy water per day.: 30 [2] Eventually, the PAEC built the plant on its own and secured funding from the Pak Arab Fertilizer– a private sector limited company.[1] This plant was to be used for energy production using nuclear power in addition to understand more advanced science involving the properties of water.: 29 [2]
The Deuterium oxide (or heavy water) is important for plutonium production since it is often used moderator in reactor that uses natural uranium.: 200 [2] The heavy water molecule consists of one oxygen atom and two deuterium atoms– an isotope of hydrogen having an extra neutron in its nucleus.: 29 [2] Though it occurs naturally, but it extremely rare, accounting only one in three thousand water molecules.: 29 [2] The heavy water allows natural uranium to be used in reactor cores as opposed to enriched uranium which is expensive, time consuming and difficult to do.: 29 [2] However, the isotope separation of water requires large facilities, finances, and technical support.: 29 [2]
The PAEC discussed the plant with Germany, France, and Canada with proposing this facility under regular IAEA inspection– all had ejected from the proposal in 1974.: 200 [2] Eventually, Belgium was a more willing partner that helped Pakistan constructing the plant but this facility cannot produce the heavy water requires to produce the weapon-grade plutonium and it is only used for its original mission envisioned in 1958.: 201–202 [2] The Multan Heavy Water Production Facility is not subject to IAEA inspection but its secure operations and security is professed by the Government of Pakistan through its federal oversight agencies.[4]
Inside the Multan Heavy Water Production Facility, the Pak Arab Fertilizer (pvt) Ltd. operates a fertilizer factory with an annual output capacity of between 140,000 and 117,000 tons of ammonium nitrate, while a smaller fertilizer plant has an annual output capacity of 43,000 tons of urea.[1]
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