POF Metallurgical Laboratory

Last updated

POF Metallurgical Laboratory
Established1972 (1972)
Field of research
Location Wah in Punjab, Pakistan
Operating agency
Pakistan Ordnance Factories
Website https://www.pmt-labs.com.pk/

The POFMetallurgical Laboratory (also known as "ML") is a research and development laboratory located near the Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) in Wah Cantonment, Punjab, Pakistan. [1] It's a part of POF Materials Testing Laboratories (PMTL Labs). [2]

Contents

Established in 1972 to study non-ferrous metals, it played an important role during the development of Pakistan's clandestine nuclear weapons program. [3] [4] It's activities include research into non-ferrous and ferrous metals, materials science as well as testing, accreditation and quality assurance. [5]

History

The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) used the Metallurgical Laboratory in 1972 to conduct basic research into the chemistry and physical metallurgy of non-ferrous metals. Dr. Khalil Qureshi played a pioneering role as the lab's principal investigator. [6] [7]

The lab also undertook classified studies, as codename: Wah Group Scientists, in designing and developing the non-nuclear physical components and performing metallurgy testing of explosives to be used in nuclear devices under Dr. Zaman Sheikh, a physical chemist. [8] The importance of its work in materials science and understanding the chemistry and metallurgy of plutonium evolved in the Metallurgical Laboratory into a critical laboratory, similar to the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science & Technology. [7] Due to the sensitivity of the projects and security concerns of scientists at the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), the program was definitely moved to KRL in the 1980s. [4]

Current Role

These days POF Metallurgical Laboratory offers a variety of material testing services, including: [1] [9]

Accreditations

The lab is accredited by various accreditation bodies including PNAC [10] and ISO 14001:2004 by TUV Austria Bureau.

Customers

Following industries utilize the services of ML:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdul Qadeer Khan</span> Pakistani nuclear physicist (1936–2021)

Abdul Qadeer Khan,, known as A. Q. Khan, was a Pakistani nuclear physicist and metallurgical engineer who is colloquially known as the "father of Pakistan's atomic weapons program".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction</span>

Pakistan is one of nine states that possess nuclear weapons. Pakistan began developing nuclear weapons in January 1972 under Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who delegated the program to the Chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Munir Ahmad Khan with a commitment to having the device ready by the end of 1976. Since PAEC, which consisted of over twenty laboratories and projects under reactor physicist Munir Ahmad Khan, was falling behind schedule and having considerable difficulty producing fissile material, Abdul Qadeer Khan, a metallurgist working on centrifuge enrichment for Urenco, joined the program at the behest of the Bhutto administration by the end of 1974. Producing fissile material was pivotal to the Kahuta Project's success and thus to Pakistan obtaining the capability to detonate a nuclear weapon by the end of 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COMSATS University Islamabad</span> Public university in Islamabad, Pakistan

The COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), formerly known as COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), is a public university in Pakistan.It is regarded as one of the top university in the country. COMSATS also holds competition with FAST and NUST, the top 3 universities of Pakistan.COMSATS is considered as the Ivy League school of Pakistan. It is a multi-campus university with its principal seat located in Islamabad. Comsats was envisioned as Pakistan's first exclusive Institute of Information Technology. In the latest QS University Rankings, CUI ranked 7th in Pakistan and 801–1000 in the world. Nationally it is ranked top-most in Computer Sciences and IT category. COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI) is under the administration of the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khan Research Laboratories</span> National laboratory in Kahuta, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

The Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, is a federally funded research and development laboratory located in Kahuta at a short distance from Rawalpindi in Punjab, Pakistan. Established in 1976, the laboratory is best known for its central role in Pakistan's nuclear weapons program and its understanding the nuclear science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chagai-I</span> Pakistans first successful nuclear weapons test (1998)

Chagai-I is the code name of five simultaneous underground nuclear tests conducted by Pakistan at 15:15 hrs PKT on 28 May 1998. The tests were performed at Ras Koh Hills in the Chagai District of Balochistan Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ishfaq Ahmad Khan</span> Pakistani nuclear physicist (1930–2018)

Ishfaq Ahmad KhanSI, HI, NI, FPAS, was a Pakistani nuclear physicist, emeritus professor of high-energy physics at the National Centre for Physics, and former science advisor to the Government of Pakistan.

The Defence Industry of Pakistan, established in September 1951, mainly falls under the purview of the Ministry of Defence Production (MoDP). It aims to foster collaboration and oversee the diverse range of military production facilities that have emerged since Pakistan's independence. The MoDP comprises specialized organizations, each dedicated to various aspects of the defence industry, including research and development, production, and administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammad Raziuddin Siddiqui</span> Pakistani physicist (1908–1998)

Muhammad Raziuddin Siddiqui was a Pakistani theoretical physicist and mathematician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Munir Ahmad Khan</span> Pakistani nuclear physicist (1926–1999)

Munir Ahmad Khan, NI, HI, FPAS, was a Pakistani nuclear reactor physicist who is credited, among others, with being the "father of the atomic bomb program" of Pakistan for their leading role in developing their nation's nuclear weapons during the successive years after the war with India in 1971.

Muhammad Masud Ahmad, best known as Masood Ahmad, was a Pakistani theoretical physicist and ICTP laureate known for his work in dual resonance and Veneziano model, a strings sting mathematically described the fundamental forces and forms of matter in quantum state.

Muhammad Hafeez Qureshi, NI, SI, HI, known as Hafeez Qureshi, was a Pakistani nuclear scientist and a mechanical engineer, known for his role as a diagnostics engineer for his nation's nuclear capability.

Anwar Ali, is a Pakistani physicist and a computer programmer, who served as the Chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) from 2006 until 2009. His scientific career is spent at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission as a computational physicist and played a key scientific role his nation's secret nuclear deterrent program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Project-706</span> Code name for Pakistans Nuclear Bomb Program

Project-706, also known as Project-786 was the codename of a research and development program to develop Pakistan's first nuclear weapons. The program was initiated by Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1974 in response to the Indian nuclear tests conducted in May 1974. During the course of this program, Pakistani nuclear scientists and engineers developed the requisite nuclear infrastructure and gained expertise in the extraction, refining, processing and handling of fissile material with the ultimate goal of designing a nuclear device. These objectives were achieved by the early 1980s with the first successful cold test of a Pakistani nuclear device in 1983. The two institutions responsible for the execution of the program were the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and the Kahuta Research Laboratories, led by Munir Ahmed Khan and Abdul Qadeer Khan respectively. In 1976 an organization called Special Development Works (SDW) was created within the Pakistan Army, directly under the Chief of the Army Staff (Pakistan) (COAS). This organization worked closely with PAEC and KRL to secretly prepare the nuclear test sites in Baluchistan and other required civil infrastructure.

Lieutenant General Zahid Ali AkbarHI(M), SBt, PE, is a former engineering officer in the Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers, known for his role in Pakistan's acquisition of nuclear weapons, and directing the Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL), a top secret research facility developing the clandestine atom bomb project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defence Science & Technology Organisation</span> Pakistani multi-disciplinary, research and development agency

The Defence Science & Technology Organisation is a multi-disciplinary, research and development agency under the National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM) of Pakistan, dedicated for evaluation of science and technology for use by the military.

Chagai-II is the codename assigned to the second atomic test conducted by Pakistan, carried out on 30 May 1998 in the Kharan Desert in Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Chagai-II took place two days after Pakistan's first successful test, Chagai-I, which was carried out on 28 May 1998 in the Ras Koh area in Chagai District, Balochistan, Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences</span> Public university in Islamabad, Pakistan

The Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), is a public research university located in Islamabad, Pakistan. The university is modelled on international standards with a strong focus on the scientific advancement of the nuclear science-related STEM fields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghulam Dastagir Alam</span> Pakistani theoretical physicist and professor

Ghulam Dastagir Alam Qasmi, was a Pakistani theoretical physicist and professor of mathematics at the Quaid-e-Azam University. Alam is best known for conceiving and embarking on research on the gas centrifuge during Pakistan's integrated atomic bomb project in the 1970s, and he also conceived the research on charge density, nuclear fission, and gamma-ray bursts throughout his career.

Khalil Ahmad Qureshi, is a Pakistani physical chemist and the professor of physical chemistry at the Punjab University. He has published notable papers in nuclear physical chemistry in international scientific journals as well contributing in the advancement of the scientific applications of the civilian usage of the fuel cycle.

Shahid-ur Rehman (1946–2020) was a Pakistani journalist known for his reporting on economics, finance, and the nuclear industry.

References

  1. 1 2 "LABORATORIES IN PAKISTAN" . Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  2. ":..PMT LABS..:". www.pmt-labs.com.pk. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  3. "Brochure PMT labs" (PDF). pmt-labs.com.pk.
  4. 1 2 Khan, Feroz Hassan (2012). Eating grass the making of the atomic bomb. Stanford, California: Stanford Security Studies, an imprint of Stanford University Press. ISBN   978-0804784801.
  5. Director of Metallurgical Lab. "Scope of Metallurgical Laboratory" (PDF). Director of Metallurgical Lab. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  6. Rehman, Shahidur (1999) [1999], "§5 The Group at Wah", Long Road to Chagai (1 ed.), Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory: Printwise Publications, pp. 75–89
  7. 1 2 Mubarakmand, Samar, "A Science Odyssey: Pakistan Nuclear Emergence", Synopsis written and delivered at the Khwarizmi Science Society of Pakistan at the Centre of High Energy Physics of Punjab University, 30 November 1998.
  8. Nayak, Pandav , Pakistan, Dilemmas of a Developing State, 1985, Aalekh Publishers, p. 252
  9. Farid Ullah Khan and Amin Ur Rahman. "An Overview" (PDF). Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  10. "Testing and Calibration Laboratories". www.pnac.gov.pk. Retrieved 1 April 2024.

Further reading