KARACHI, Dec 1: The Karachi Nuclear Power Plant will start supplying 50-60 megawatts to the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation shortly.

A Kanupp spokesman told Dawn on Monday that the power plant would start the supply of electricity to the KESC within a couple of weeks.

He said that the Kanupp, which had been designed to remain operational for 30 years, had successfully completed its term in Nov 2002. He added that the nuclear power plant had been shut down in Dec 2002.

He said the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority had licensed Kanupp to generate electricity for the next 12 years. “Kanupp has the capacity to generate 137 megawatts, but the maximum amount of power it ever generated was 125 megawatts. The engineers running the nuclear power plant have been advised by the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority to generate at the most 120 megawatts initially.”

He recalled that the Canadian government had helped Pakistan install Kanupp in the early 1970s. “In 1974, the Canadian government withdrew vendor support to Pakistan when India tested its nuclear arsenal for the first time. But, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission engineers kept the power plant going for 30 years without any outside assistance,” he said.

According to the assessment of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission personnel, he said, the life of the nuclear power plant should be extended for 15 years. “But according to the assessment of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, the life of the nuclear power plant should be extended for 12 years. The Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority allowed the Kanupp to generate electricity for the next 12 years after ensuring that all international safeguards and checks are in place,” he explained.

He said that shutdowns of Kanupp would continue to take place for maintenance. “This is carried out as a matter of routine. Besides, the Kanupp is an old power plant and it needs to be overhauled at regular intervals,” he said.