Fact Check: Viral image showing a letter and claiming to be from a department in Pakistan on radiation leak is False
Amidst the speculations of India attacking the nuclear weapons facility in Kirana hills in Pakistan, several social
Fake letter
Amidst the speculations of India attacking the nuclear weapons facility in Kirana hills in Pakistan, several social media users are claiming that there has been a radiation leak after the attack by Indian missiles. But the Indian armed forces denied that India had targeted the stated location.
Meanwhile, a letter claiming to be a Radiological Safety bulletin issued by the Pakistani government confirms a radiation leak at the nuclear facility in Northern Pakistan. The letter has the logo of the Pakistan government, and is published in the name of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Islamabad, dated May 13, 2025. The letter is tagged as Confidential – Immediate Release. Several users shared the letter with comments like ‘Nuclear radiation confirmed’. While some users shared this letter with the caption “Govt of Pakistan confirms radiation in Northern Pakistan. Reosen is Kirana hills"
Here is the archive link of the claim.
Fact Check:
The letter is fake.
Firstly, when we searched for reports about any nuclear radiation leak reported by Pakistan, we did not find any reports on such a radiation leak. Neither Indian nor Pakistani media outlets reported the radiation leak. When we searched for the National Radiological Safety Division in Pakistan, we did not find any such organization but we found a social media page of an organisation named Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.
When we searched for the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, we found the ministry named only ‘Ministry of Climate Change’, without any mention of 'environmental coordination’ in it. The email address mentioned in the viral letter is nrsd@env.go.v.pk, but the email IDs of the Pakistani government end with ‘.gov.pk’, and @env.gov.pk is not a registered domain.
We found several spelling and grammatical errors in the viral letter. Mistakes like ‘Confidental’ in place of ‘Confidential’, 'Norther’ in place of ‘northern’. Another word, ‘industrialirological’ is not understandable. Coming to the time mentioned on the letter, even if we follow 24-hour cycle, 24.55 hours does not exist; it should be 00.55.
Here is the image of the letter, highlighting the mistakes.
When we searched using the words “radiological safety bulletin Pakistan”, we did not find any information about it. We also found that the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority is the Government’s regulatory body that regulates radiation facilities to ensure public and environmental safety. When we searched for ‘Malik Asad Rafique, Director-General, NRSD’, we did not get any valid information about either the organisation or the person.
Therefore, the letter viral in the name of the Ministry of Climate Change, Pakistan, is a fake one. The claim of a radiation leak in Northern Pakistan is False.