WITH the groundbreaking of what is intended to be Pakistan’s largest civilian nuclear power facility by the prime minister in Karachi last week, a practical step has been taken to help meet this country’s ravenous power demand through nuclear technology. Plans for the plant, located on the Karachi coast and expected to produce 2,200MW, have been on the drawing board since the Musharraf era. However, the current administration wants nuclear power to have a much bigger profile in the national energy mix: Nawaz Sharif identified six more sites for nuclear power plants, while the government hopes to generate around 40,000MW under the Nuclear Energy Vision 2050. Nuclear power currently adds a little over 700MW to the national grid.

With the power shortfall hitting nearly 4,000MW during the peak summer months, any additional power on the grid is welcome. Pakistan needs a varied, intelligent energy mix and nuclear power can help bridge the shortfall. Nuclear power is much cheaper than energy produced through expensive furnace oil, and together with hydel, thermal and alternative sources appears set, at least in the eyes of the planners, to be a central component in Pakistan’s power generation infrastructure. Yet to translate the stated policy into a reality two major questions need to be answered. Firstly, the Karachi project is estimated to cost around $10bn. Can the government arrange the funds for this and the other nuclear projects? Secondly, while China will build the new units on the Arabian Sea coast, will Beijing step in to help build the other proposed plants? After all, due to Nuclear Suppliers’ Group restrictions Pakistan has few options but to turn to China. Or has the government made alternative plans?

Environmental and safety concerns are just as important as the logistics of the new nuclear plants. While Pakistan has a good record where nuclear safety is concerned, more transparency and public debate is needed before the plants are built. Proper environmental assessments need to be carried out to ensure the plants are not located in seismic zones or near population centres. These concerns are all the more important in the aftermath of 2011’s Fukushima disaster in Japan. For example, some coastal communities in Karachi have expressed apprehensions about new nuclear power plants in the area. Such public concerns must be satisfactorily addressed by the state. Diversification of the energy mix is essential and nuclear energy is a viable option, as long as safeguards are in place before Pakistan jumps on the nuclear energy bandwagon.