In a small laboratory in the city of Kahuta, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan changed the course of history. He is known as the Father of Pakistan’s Nuclear Program and is responsible for making Pakistan a nuclear power. This title alone makes him one of the most important figures in Pakistani history.

Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan was born in 1936 in Bhopal, India. His family moved to Pakistan after the partition of India in 1947. He received his early education in Karachi and then studied metallurgy at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. During his time at Delft University, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan began working on nuclear enrichment technology. In 1974, he returned to Pakistan and started working on Pakistan’s nuclear program.

Pakistan Before Dr. Khan

Before Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan did not have a nuclear weapons program. However, with Dr. Khan’s help, Pakistan became a nuclear power in 1998. Dr. Khan was a metallurgist who worked on uranium enrichment in the Netherlands. In 1976, he founded the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL), responsible for Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program.

Dr. Khan was very successful in developing Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program. He developed an advanced uranium enrichment process called gas centrifuge technology. This technology is used to enrich uranium to a level necessary for producing nuclear weapons.

The Kahuta Research Laboratories

Pakistan’s nuclear program began in 1971 under the leadership of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The program was started in response to India’s nuclear tests in 1974. However, Pakistan’s nuclear program accelerated rapidly after Dr. Khan joined the team in 1976. By 1984, Pakistan had developed its first atomic bomb. In 1998, Pakistan conducted its first nuclear tests, becoming the seventh country in the world to create nuclear weapons.

Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) is a government-owned research and development institute in Kahuta, Pakistan, founded in 1972 by Dr. Khan. The primary purpose of KRL is to conduct research and development on nuclear and defense-related technologies.

Khan Research Laboratories is also responsible for developing Pakistan’s atomic bomb program. In May 1998, just two months after Pakistan conducted its first nuclear test, KRL successfully tested an atomic bomb codenamed “Chagai-I.” This was the first time an atomic bomb was developed and tested in a Muslim country.