In 1974, Abdul Qadeer Khan a metallurgist, joined the program and pushed for the feasibility of highly enriched uranium (HEU) fissile material and collaborated under Bashiruddin Mahmood at the PAEC– a moved that irked Khan. Preliminary studies on gaseous centrifuge were already studied by PAEC in 1967 but yielded few results. Khan advanced uranium enrichment from the expertise he had from the Urenco Group in the Netherlands. Under Khan's supervision, the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) was set-up and engaged in clandestine efforts to obtain the necessary materials technology and electronic components for its developing uranium enrichment capabilities.