The Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, () or KRL for short, is a federally funded, multi-program national research institute and national laboratory site primarily dedicated to uranium enrichment, supercomputing and fluid mechanics. It is managed by the Ministry of Energy for the Government of Pakistan. The laboratory is located in Kahuta, a short distance north-east of Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. The site was organized to produce weapons-grade nuclear material, primarily weapons-grade uranium, as part of Pakistan's secretive atomic bomb program in the years after the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971. Chosen to be a top-secret location, it was built in secrecy by the Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers. It was commissioned under the Army engineers with civilian scientists joining the site in late 1976. During the midst of the 1970s, the site was the cornerstone of the first stage of Pakistan's atomic bomb program, and is one of the many sites where classified scientific research on atomic bombs was undertaken. The KRL has prestige for conducting research and development to be able to produce highly enriched uranium (HEU) utilizing the Zippe-method of gas centrifuge– the other user of this method is the Urenco Group in the Netherlands. Since its inception, many technical staff have been employed, mostly physicists and mathematicians, assisted by engineers (both Army and civilians), chemists, and material scientists. Professional scientists and engineers are delegated to visit this institute, after undergoing strict screening and background checks, to participate as visitors in scientific projects. As of its current mission, KRL is one of the largest science and technology research sites in Pakistan, and conducts multidisciplinary research and development in fields such as national security, space exploration, and supercomputing. History As early as the 1970s, the early stage of Pakistan's atomic bomb program focused its primary efforts on producing and developing a weapons-grade plutonium nuclear device under the research led by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) at its national laboratory, the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) in Nilore. In 1974, India conducted a surprise nuclear test, (Smiling Buddha), so PAEC launched a clandestine uranium enrichment project with nuclear engineer Sultan Mahmood becoming its director– Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan joined the program in 1974 as an adviser. Work at the Kahuta site was initiated by Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. After disagreeing with Director Sultan Mahmood's calculations and feasibility report submitted to the government, Prime Minister