KARACHI, March 28: The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission is in the process of setting up two nuclear power plants on the outskirts of the city. “A piece of land measuring over 585 acres is being acquired next to the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (Kanupp). The nuclear power plants will be able to do away with power shortages that the city has lately been facing,” said a high-ranking PAEC official, Zia-ul-Hasan Siddiqui, at a news conference on Wednesday evening. Mr Siddiqui said no timeline had been drawn up for the establishment of the plants.

The electricity demand of energy-starved Karachi has been growing at around seven per cent. It peaked at 2,350 megawatts in the summer of 2006.

Mr Siddiqui, who previously ran the Chashma nuclear power plant, said the PAEC had been tasked to generate 8,800 megawatts through nuclear power plants by 2030.

“The two nuclear power plants on the outskirts of Karachi are part of the same plan.”

The PAEC official also announced that Kanupp had been given a new lease of life for another 15 years.