Pakistan goes super-nuke

Maybe it's time for injecting some real political leverage into a renewed non-proliferation treaty. I know the US president isn't likely to do that since he has little respect for it in the first place, but can it wait two more years? Time for another international leader to step up.

Pakistan has begun building what independent analysts say is a powerful new reactor for producing plutonium, a move that, if verified, would signal a major expansion of the country's nuclear weapons capabilities and a potential new escalation in the region's arms race.

Satellite photos of Pakistan's Khushab nuclear site show what appears to be a partially completed heavy-water reactor capable of producing enough plutonium for 40 to 50 nuclear weapons a year, a 20-fold increase from Pakistan's current capabilities, according to a technical assessment by Washington-based nuclear experts. (Washington Post)