China plans 1-gigawatt N-power plant in Pakistan
BEIJING, Sept 20: China’s main nuclear energy corporation is in talks to build a 1-gigawatt atomic power plant in Pakistan, an executive said on Monday.
China has already helped Pakistan build its main nuclear power facility at Chashma in Punjab, where one reactor is running and another is nearing completion; and it has contracts to build two more there.
Qiu Jiangang, vice president of the China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC), told a meeting in Beijing that the company was already looking beyond those deals to an even bigger plant.
“After the successful, safe operation of the first 300-megawatt reactor in Chashma...the second reactor is now under testing and is expected to start formal operations by the end of this year,” Mr Qiu said.
“Both sides are in discussions over the CNNC exporting a one-gigawatt nuclear plant to Pakistan,” he added.
Mr Qiu confirmed the two countries had already signed contracts to build the No 3 and No 4 reactors of about 300 megawatts each at Chashma.
He did not give details how far the talks had progressed.
China says safeguards in place at Chashma ensure its role is entirely peaceful.
Chinese nuclear industry executives said at the seminar that the rapidly expanding nuclear power sector abroad offered abundant opportunities.
At the Lingao reactor that began full operations last week in southern Guangdong province, China prides itself in building the facility in a record-breaking period of 57 months, with two-thirds of the main equipment from local sources.
“All these experiences have laid the foundation for the nuclear sector to go overseas,” said He Yu, chairman of the Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp, another major Chinese nuclear builder. —Reuters
