ISLAMABAD, April 14: The government has provided necessary funding to Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) to reactivate its 105 MW Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (Kanupp) by June this year.
Initially, it is a bit difficult to give the exact amount to be spent on refurbishing Kanupp, but the required financial assistance has been made available by the government to carry out the job by June 2003”, said Mr Ijaz, senior director of PAEC
He told here on Monday that Pakistan has the technology and expertise to reactivate Karachi nuclear plant without any foreign assistance. Canada, he pointed out, had originally provided technology and assistance to build Kanupp which started commercial operation in 1972. But the plant, he said, completed its designed life of 30 years on Dec 5, 2002.
Responding to a question he said that Kanupp was not facing any sanctions like that of Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) by the United States. “Such sanctions are slapped when you have limited choices but in case of Karachi nuclear plant, we are competent enough to reactivate it without any foreign support”, he claimed.
In reply to a question he said that the decision to rejuvenate Kanupp was taken keeping in view the security requirements of the country. “The country’s 60 per cent industry is dependent on power and we got to ensure the security of power supply for which the Karachi plant will have to be modernized by June 2003 to provide 80 to 100 MW electricity to the grid”, he added.
He said that Kanupp was being run under the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) safety standards and as such did not face any sanctions.
Last month Pakistan had signed an agreement with China to build 300 MW Chashma Nuclear Power Plant-2 at a cost of about $500 million. Chashma-1 was also commissioned with the help of China.
The Karachi plant had been operating safely despite many challenges and restrictions imposed by the supplier countries. The plant based on self-reliance has overcome its various problems due to lack of vendor’s support. “When India first conducted its nuclear test in 1974, the West had also imposed sanctions against Kanupp”, Mr Ijaz said adding that since Pakistan needed energy for its industry, it eventually overcame the problem of sanctions.
Replying to a question he said that there were 441 nuclear power plants in the world and were operating through international cooperation. “You need to have this international cooperation and support to ensure safety of your plants otherwise you may face the embarrassment of Chernobyl nuclear plant of former Soviet Union”, he said.
The safety record of Kanupp during the last 3 decades, he pointed out, remained excellent and was endorsed by several review missions like IAEA-OSART in 1985 and 1989, IAEA-ASSET in 1989, WANO Peer review in 1994, 1996 and 2000.
