Parvez Butt - Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission

Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission

Pervez Butt joined the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission in 1963 as "Principle Engineer" (PE), and following his master's degree, he was upgraded to became a Chief Engineer (CE) in 1966. Butt was part of the Pakistani delegation that led to a successful agreement with General Electric to supply country's first CANDU type-nuclear reactor, under the name of Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP). Butt was involved in the project's design, installation, operation and maintenance since very beginning of the project. From 1965 to 1970, he worked in the design office of Canadian General Electric, Peterborough, Ontario. Canada. In 1971, after the 1971 war, Butt came back to Pakistan and re-joined PAEC. The PAEC, under Munir Ahmed Khan, began to developed nuclear weapons by the prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Parvez Butt was made part of the nuclear weapons design and manufacture program with the full backing of Munir Ahmad Khan. He was also a part of the PAEC team that was mandated to buy and purchase equipment and machinery from abroad. In 1974, Butt was given a transferred to Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH), where he was made director-general of "Nuclear Engineering Division" (NED). NED, along with NPD (Nuclear Physics Division), developed the first nuclear device, codename "HMX-3". In 1974, Parvez Butt was part of the PAEC team that had indigenously designed built the PARR-II Reactor. While the project was led by Munir Ahmad Khan and Hafeez Qureshi, Butt took part in designing of the reactor. In 1975, Munir Ahmad Khan assigned another project to Parvez Butt. In 1975, Parvez Butt was the head of the team that was responsible for producing the first UF₆. Pervez Butt also played an important role in designing neutron particle accelerator at PARR-II. He had worked closely with well-known Pakistani nuclear scientist dr. Samar Mubarakmand in establishing of neutron particle accelerator. He worked closely with his mentor and former PAEC chairman, Munir Ahmad Khan in building of nuclear power plants.

To develop indigenous capability, Butt was assigned the responsibility for the establishment of large infrastructure organization, consisting of design and development and testing facilities and large manufacturing workshops. The national industrial training centers for welding (Pakistan Welding Institute) and non-destructive testing (NCNDT), to ensure high quality production, are amongst other organizations established by him.

He also designed the chasma nuclear power plant. He was appointed director of the PAEC, in 1994 and chairman of PAEC in 2001. On July 26, as new Chairman of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, established five more nuclear medicines centres in the country and train the staff of other health institutions about nuclear medicines and methods.

During his tenure of 5 years as Chairman, he successfully took actions to accelerate the growth in various areas of activities in which PAEC is involved and created many new organizations. These included research organizations in agriculture, establishing more nuclear medical centers, expansion in nuclear power generation, search and mining of uranium, industrialization, self-reliance, human resource development etc.