The UK and Pakistan to be nuclear equals in a decade or less?

Just in case you need to be frightened almost to death, I offer this piece on the state of Pakistan’s nuclear forces from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, where I ply the editing trade. Here’s the nub of the matter:

The US raid that killed Osama bin Laden has raised concerns about the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. In the process of building two new plutonium production reactors and a new reprocessing facility to fabricate more nuclear weapons fuel, Pakistan is also developing new delivery systems. The authors estimate that if the country’s expansion continues, Pakistan’s nuclear weapons stockpile could reach 150–200 warheads in a decade … [along with] nuclear command and control, nuclear-capable aircraft, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles.

But you’ll have to read the whole piece — with its deadpan descriptions of Islamabad’s various new nuclear-capable missiles — to acquire the full, bug-eyed, oh-my-God response.