IAEA okays Chashma-2 nuclear plant

CHASHMA CHECKED


Pakistan places nuclear plant under IAEA watch


Islamabad: Pakistan has signed an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency for safeguards at a nuclear power plant currently under construction.
The 35-member IAEA Board of Governors approved measures for Pakistan’s Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2, the foreign ministry said late on Friday.
Pakistan began building the 350-megawatt power plant in April 2005 with assistance from China. The power station, about 200 kilometres southwest of the capital, Islamabad, is to be completed in 2011. The unit is near another nuclear power plant that was also built with Chinese help and began generating power in 2000.
Chinese president Hu Jintao, currently on a visit to Pakistan, said on Friday that China will continue civilian nuclear cooperation with Pakistan in the future.
China is Pakistan’s northern neighbour and a longtime ally. Hu’s visit, the first in a decade by a Chinese president, was mainly aimed at promoting economic cooperation.
The foreign ministry said Pakistan already has placed two research reactors and two other nuclear power plants under IAEA’s safeguards. “Pakistan has been fulfilling its obligations in respect of these agreements and looks forward to continued cooperation with the agency within the framework of the applicable safeguards agreements in future as well,”it said.
Pakistan, the Islamic world’s only known nuclear weapons state, began operating its first nuclear power station with Canadian assistance near Karachi in 1972. AP

 

No change in stand on signing of add protocol with IAEA: Pak

Islamabad, Dec 02: Pakistan on Saturday dismissed as "speculative" a report saying it has informed members of the nuclear suppliers group that Islamabad would not sign the additional protocol with IAEA on non-proliferation, unless India does.

"It is a speculative report. The issue is still under consideration," Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said here when asked to comment on a report stating that Pakistan told the US and the NSG that it would not sign the additional protocol with the IAEA unless India does so.

The protocol substantially expands IAEA's ability to check clandestine nuclear facilities by providing the agency with an authority to visit any establishment, declared or not and to investigate questions or inconsistencies in a state's nuclear declarations.

Last month, Aslam said "the signing of the additional protocol (AP) has been under consideration but no decision has been taken." She said there is no change in that stand.

In her briefing on November 20, Aslam said, "Pakistan is not a member of NPT and it is a nuclear power. These facts have to be taken into account on any discussions on the additional protocol."

Local daily 'The Nation' reported yesterday that Pakistan has told the United States and other members of NSG that it would consider signing of IAEA's additional protocol if India signed it.

The NSG had earlier asked Pakistan to sign the protocol to pave the way for nuclear energy cooperation between Islamabad and the western nations.

The additional protocol was drafted to strengthen the verification ability of the IAEA after the 1991 revelation that Iraq had nearly developed a nuclear weapon without the agency's knowledge.

Islamabad has recently concluded an agreement with IAEA on the application of safeguards of the UN nuclear watchdog to the Chasma nuclear power plant unit-2 (chasnupp-2) being built with the Chinese assistance. Chasnupp-1, also built with Chinese assistance, was placed under such safeguards earlier.

The newspaper quoted officials as saying that the signing of the protocol was a separate issue and had nothing to do with the IAEA safeguards as agreed to by the agency and Islamabad.

"The protocol requires the countries to declare additional activities and facilities to the IAEA and it enables the agency to seek access to undeclared locations and allows for spot inspections in less than 24 hours notice," the official said.

He said that sensitivities involved in the signing of IAEA's additional protocol made it a very significant issue that required thorough consideration before making any decision. "We would wait and see what final position India takes on the issue," he said.

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