Abdul Qadeer Khan

Abdul Qadeer Khan was a Pakistani metallurgist who led uranium-enrichment work for Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program. He later admitted organizing a network that supplied nuclear technology to Iran, Libya, and North Korea.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: Pakistan’s prime minister from 1973 to 1977, who initiated the country’s nuclear weapons program after the 1971 war. Bhutto backed the national program Khan joined after returning to Pakistan.
Gas centrifuge: A machine that separates isotopes by spinning gas at high speed inside a rotor. Centrifuges were the central machines in Khan’s uranium-enrichment effort.
Khan network: A transnational procurement and supply network associated with Abdul Qadeer Khan that transferred nuclear technology abroad. The network connected Khan’s activities to nuclear programs in several countries.
Kahuta Research Laboratories: The uranium-enrichment complex near Kahuta, Pakistan, later renamed A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories. The Kahuta site became the physical base of the enrichment program Khan directed.
A. Q. Khan confession: Khan’s televised 2004 admission that he had transferred nuclear technology to other countries. His confession acknowledged transfers but left significant questions about responsibility and scope.
Munir Ahmad Khan: A Pakistani nuclear engineer who led the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission from 1972 to 1991. He directed the reactor-focused commission whose work ran alongside Khan’s enrichment effort.
Uranium enrichment: The process of increasing the proportion of uranium-235 in uranium. Khan’s principal technical contribution to Pakistan’s weapons program was building enrichment capacity.
Iran nuclear program: Iran’s civilian and nuclear fuel-cycle program, which has been subject to extensive international scrutiny. The IAEA found that Iran had received centrifuge-related designs and components through the Khan network.
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission: Pakistan’s government agency responsible for nuclear research and development, including work on the nuclear weapons program. The commission’s program formed the institutional setting in which Khan’s separate enrichment effort developed.
International Atomic Energy Agency: An international organization that verifies nuclear safeguards and promotes peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The agency reconstructed parts of the network through investigations of recipient states.

Linked from 1 page