ISLAMABAD, March 24: Prime Minister’s adviser on strategic programme Dr Ishfaq Ahmed has stressed the need for establishing more nuclear power plants to meet energy needs.

“Nuclear power is the only answer to the energy needs of the present day world which causes no disturbance to the ecosystem and this phenomenon has emerged as nuclear renaissance,” he said at a ceremony of issuing construction licence of the Chashma Power Plant’s unit-II to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) here on Friday.

“There will be a lot of nuclear plants in our neighbourhood in the near future and we must not lag behind,” he said.

He said Pakistan has an excellent safety record for nuclear power operations and all efforts should be devoted to set better records in safety and efficiency of the nuclear power plants. He noted with admiration that the PAEC was updating the KANUPP for extending its life by 15 years beyond 30 years of design life.

The licence was presented by PNRA Chairman Jamshed Azim Hashmi to PAEC chief Parvez Butt at an impressive ceremony attended by scientists & engineers of the PNRA and PAEC.

In his speech, Mr Jamshed Hashmi briefly described the licensing procedure followed for C-2 licensing and commended the efforts of all the involved parties leading to the issuance of license. He highlighted the cooperation that exists between China and Pakistan in different fields and appreciated China‘s support to Pakistan in peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Mentioning the details, Mr Hashmi said, during the entire review process, about 2000 questions were raised by the PNRA which were answered. Based on the evaluation of the review team, the PNRA finalized the “Construction License’ which is valid for the entire construction phase and commissioning of plant systems without introducing nuclear fuel in the system.