ISLAMABAD, July 22: Pakistan has sought from the United States hi-tech nuclear equipment needed for some of the country’s important industries and the International Atomic Energy Agency has been taken into confidence in this regard. Sources told Dawn on Tuesday that the Export-Import (Exim) Bank of the US had indicated that it would initially provide supplier’s credit to help procure nuclear-related medical equipment for the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC).

A couple of Exim Bank officials, including First Vice-President April Foley, visited Pakistan recently and discussed with the authorities the issue of providing suppliers’ credit for importing some of the machinery, including US-made medical equipment.

The PAEC plans to shortly launch international bidding for procurement of some of the medical and other nuclear equipment to fulfil its needs.

The PAEC wants to import on priority basis positron emission tomography (PET) imaging facility from the US to introduce in Pakistan the state-of-the-art technology, using cyclotron-produced short-lived isotopes, which is an early and accurate nuclear medicine diagnostic tool.

The system will help detect diseases, determine appropriate treatments and efficiently track the response of the body to those.

The need for the PET imaging system in the country has been felt strongly for the past five years as it is making critical contribution to cost-effective health assessment.

The system can help reduce or avoid the cost of ineffective treatments and unnecessary surgical procedures or hospitalization. India has acquired two PET institutes equipped with cyclotrons.

The sources said the PAEC had informed the authorities that the country was in dire need of PET technology, for which human resource development was also essential.

The project will benefit all the 13 nuclear medical institutes of the PAEC. Staff in five institutes in the four provinces will get training related to the facility.