Need to build more n-plants, says Pakistan

Pakistan has told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it wants to build more nuclear power plants to ease its severe energy crisis, a media report said Friday.

Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Chairman Ansar Parvez told the annual general conference of the IAEA in Vienna Thursday that Pakistan was committed to synergising its efforts with those of the agency to harness the vast potential of nuclear technology, Dawn online reported.

Pakistan has the experience, credentials and potential to become a recipient as well as a supplier of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, Parvez said.

Parvez said that Pakistan was committed to keeping all its current and future civilian nuclear facilities under the IAEA safeguards and controls.

The new plants being acquired for the site in Karachi were generation-III plants, equipped with enhanced safety features, the chairman said.

Pakistan set up its first nuclear power plant, Kanupp, in 1972 and more than 40 years of its safe operation has provided confidence to the PAEC to pursue further the option of nuclear power plants, he said.

The PAEC chief said the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant's two units, built with Chinese assistance, were also running smoothly.

Two more units, Chashma-3 and Chashma-4, are currently under construction.