IN a major development, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), on Friday, started fuel loading on the country’s second largest nuclear power plant called K-3, which will hopefully begin contributing to the national grid in March 2022.
It marks the third decade of civil nuclear cooperation between Pakistan and China under which Pakistan has been able to establish several nuclear power plants at Mianwali and Karachi.
Timely completion of the project is, indeed, a great achievement of the Commission going by the fact that most of the mega projects in other fields lag far behind actual schedule.
This also reflects the firm commitment of Pakistan and China to execute projects of national importance in a timely manner avoiding cost escalation.
The successful execution of K-2 and K-3 is significant as these remained targets of scathing propaganda by vested interests.
These are state-of-the-art projects designed to provide 2,200 MW of clean and environment-friendly electricity to the national grid.
K-2 started supplying electricity to the national grid in May 2021 and now K-3, after operational and safety tests, is expected to begin commercial operation in March this year.
With the introduction of K-2 and K-3 into the national grid, the share of nuclear power in the energy mix of Pakistan will exceed 10 percent, which is an achievement worth celebrating.
The credit for this goes to the hard working and vibrant Chairman of the Commission Dr.Muhammad Ashfaq and his team of engineers and technicians.
People of Pakistan are also indebted to China, which extended fullest possible cooperation in the civil use of nuclear technology despite various odds and as a result PAEC is successfully implementing its plans for addition of more nuclear power to the national grid.
