IT was heartening to hear from Dr. Raja Ali Raza Anwar, Chairman, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) that another nuclear power plant of 1,200 megawatt is under construction with the cooperation of China at the Chashma site. Speaking at an event organized by China to commemorate 40 years of its partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he highlighted that Pakistan was safely operating six nuclear power plants constituting a total electricity generation capacity of 3,530 megawatts. All these plants were constructed in cooperation with China.
It is a matter of satisfaction that the PAEC, with the active collaboration of China, is steadily moving ahead to realize its assigned target of adding nuclear power to the national energy mix, which will ensure supply of clean, environment friendly and reliable electricity to the national grid. Barring 137-MW Karachi Nuclear Power Plant-I, Pakistan’s first nuclear power plant built through Canadian assistance, which stands permanently closed since August 2021, the country’s entire nuclear power programme owes its existence to China’s undeterred cooperation in the field. While people of Pakistan are indebted to the friendly country for its peaceful collaboration in the realm of nuclear technology, credit goes to the engineers and technicians of the Atomic Energy Commission for safely and successfully operating all nuclear power plants. The professionalism of the PAEC engineers and technicians has been acknowledged by the IAEA, which has been appreciating the safety standards pursued by Pakistan. It may be mentioned that the two nuclear power plants of 1100 MW each established in Karachi were made targets of criticism mainly on the plea that the technology used was not tested but the plants are contributing their share to the national grid successfully. The 1200-MW plants being built at Mianwali would be the country’s largest nuclear power plant and its completion would increase the share of nuclear power to the national grid to 4730 MW. The increasing number of nuclear power plants makes it imperative to formulate a workable plan for local manufacture of essential components and spares to make the programme financially sustainable for the country.
