Khushab

Khushab is a city as well as a district in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The word Khushab means "sweet water." Khushab city also serves as the headquarters of Khushab Tehsil, an administrative subdivision of the district Khushab.The city of Khushab is the location of the Khushab Nuclear Complex, a critical part of the Pakistan's Special Weapons Program, which has come under much heated scrutiny.DemographicsThe population according to the 1901 census was 11,403.Now it is 50,000.Etymology"Khushab" is a combination of two Persian words: khush, meaning "sweet or tasty", and aab, meaning "water". A common belief is that the Persians from the west first used the word khush-aab in admiration of the sweet and tasty water found in the historical city situated on the bank of Jhelum River. In time the city became known as Khushab.Khushab Nuclear ComplexOn 21 March 2000, The Christian Science Monitor published an article written by Alexander Colhoun, in which a high-resolution aerial satellite photo revealed a nuclear reactor, Khushab Nuclear Complex and a missile base in the city of Khushab. These pictures had mixed views, one of the expression of power that could shackle or reshape diplomatic landscapes of a region and another of the ethical question about the usage of satellite imagery in terms of privacy and national sovereignty of a nuclear-capable nation. The report was published at a time when American President Bill Clinton was due to visit India, and it sparked concerns worldwide. According to a more recent ISIS analysis of imaging, the Khushab Nuclear Complex has four heavy water reactors and a heavy water production plant. Moreover, the plutonium produced in this site as reported by a Pakistani official is prepared to build small, short range nuclear weapons such as tactical nuclear-tipped missiles.