ISLAMABAD, Nov 7: The deputy chairman of the Planning Commission has said that the body will support the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) in efforts to upgrade its indigenous technical facilities for the manufacture and installation of nuclear power plants.

“These efforts are needed to reap the immense potential of nuclear energy, a clean and cost competitive source of electricity,” Sardar Aseff Ahmed Ali said at a meeting with senior officials of PAEC during a visit to the Chashma Nuclear Power Plants on Saturday.

“The PAEC’s plans to install more nuclear power plants to contribute to the pressing electricity requirements of the country are well founded and its increasing indigenous capability in this domain deserves our full support and we will provide all what is possible to this organisation, which has an excellent track record of delivering whatever is assigned to it,” Sardar Aseff said.

“There is a huge reservoir of technical know-how available with PAEC which can be utilised for socio-economic uplift.

“We need to strengthen this centre of excellence for a prosperous Pakistan,” Sardar Aseff added.

He said due to global warming caused by fossil fuel-based plants, nuclear energy as a clean source had seen a revival and it was heartening to know that PAEC was poised to take a lead in nuclear generation.

The chairman of PAEC, Dr Ansar Parvez, said the country’s nuclear power plants were operating well under the supervision of Pakistani experts and PAEC was moving forward with plans to install many more nuclear power plants.

“In future nuclear power projects, indigenous capability is to play an increasing role. We already have workshops and facilities in place to this end and are working to enhance this capacity all along.”

The chairman said that the technical facilities and know-how available with the PAEC could be utilised by the Planning Commission and other national institutions.

In his presentation, Director General of Chashma, Safder Habib, highlighted the self-reliance programme of PAEC in nuclear power generation, citing the example of Kanupp which is being run through indigenous capabilities since 1976.

The meeting was informed about the performance of Chashma-1 and Chashma-2 projects. The C-1 was connected to the grid in September, 2000, with an excellent availability factor and the under-construction C-2 is to be operational by mid of 2011.

The deputy chairman inaugurated a site for development of educational facilities up to university level for the needs of nuclear power complex at Chashma.
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