Pakistan Friday disputed a report from an American watchdog group that has alleged that Pakistan is building a new nuclear reactor that can produce weapons-grade plutonium.

"Such speculations take place time to time. A similar report also appeared in July last year. The nuclear facility in Khushab is not new," Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said.

A picture taken on June 3 shows work progressing rapidly on the reactor at the Khushab nuclear site, 170 km southwest of Islamabad, the Institute of Science for International Security said.

The Washington-based institute said in a report that the development of the reactor and other nuclear-related activities implied that Pakistan had decided to increase significantly its production of plutonium for nuclear weapons.

"Pakistan has a nuclear weapon program and we had a nuclear facility in Khushab. This is not a revelation. No one should surprise over it," Aslam told the private Geo TV.

"As regards to our nuclear facility including development program, we do not comment on that. However I would say that Khushab is a well known nuclear site," she said.

The spokesperson said that the facility was also on the list of nuclear sites which Pakistan exchanged with India every year on Jan. 1 under the 1988 agreement between the two countries.

She avoided offering more comments, saying that Pakistan did not comment on the details, and developments of nuclear facilities.

The report said that Pakistan might have decided to produce more plutonium for lighter warheads for cruise missiles, or to upgrade weapons aimed at Indian cities.

Source: Xinhua