Can Pakistan Manufacture Civil Nuclear Power Plants without Chinese Help?

[faani83]

-Current and previous Civil Nuclear power plants were manufactured and operated with Canadian and Chinese help.

How will Pakistan manage to get help in the presence of NPT and NSG?

Nuclear Power in Pakistan - World Nuclear Association

Pakistan has six operating reactors. Because Pakistan is outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty due to its weapons programme, it is largely excluded from trade in nuclear plant or materials, which hinders its development of civil nuclear energy.

world-nuclear.org

Pakistan 2022

Pakistan

cnpp.iaea.org

 

[sparten]

Technically, yes.
Practically, no.
A nuclear plant is a nuclear plant. Whether its for making Plutonium, like Khushab, or generating electricity like Chashma or Karachi.
When you are making Plutonium, heat is waste. You run it just enough to have the fuel transmute to Plutonium and then remove it and separate it. You can continue to burn it (and lose most of the Plutonium) and use the heat to boil water to run turbines.
Of course, we have to make pretty much all reactor components ourselves, since no one will sell to us. This makes it very expensive. For a production reactor, the Government can eat the cost, since there is no other way to get Plutonium. A power reactor has to make economic sense and pay for itself.
Of course we could go on a crash course of building Khuhsab based power plants and the economies of scale might reduce the costs...

 

[TheSnakeEatingMarkhur]

-Current and previous Civil Nuclear power plants were manufactured and operated with Canadian and Chinese help.

How will Pakistan manage to get help in the presence of NPT and NSG?

Nuclear Power in Pakistan - World Nuclear Association

Pakistan has six operating reactors. Because Pakistan is outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty due to its weapons programme, it is largely excluded from trade in nuclear plant or materials, which hinders its development of civil nuclear energy.

world-nuclear.org

Pakistan 2022

Pakistan

cnpp.iaea.org

Pakistan can as we have enough know how but Pakistan is going to opt for future reactor development with Chinese and maybe even work on Fusion reactor.

 

[SABRE]

-Current and previous Civil Nuclear power plants were manufactured and operated with Canadian and Chinese help.

How will Pakistan manage to get help in the presence of NPT and NSG?

Nuclear Power in Pakistan - World Nuclear Association

Pakistan has six operating reactors. Because Pakistan is outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty due to its weapons programme, it is largely excluded from trade in nuclear plant or materials, which hinders its development of civil nuclear energy.

world-nuclear.org

Pakistan 2022

Pakistan

cnpp.iaea.org

China has always invoked 'grandfather clause' for assisting Pakistan's nuclear power programme. Grandfather clause allows a country to fulfill its agreements with another country that it had made prior to joining any prohibiting treaties. In essence, their commitments to assist Pakistan's civilian nuclear programme predate their acceding to the NPT and NSG and they are within their rights to fullfil their obligations to Pakistan. Of course, China has never presented any documented evidance of grandfathered agreements with Pakistan nor are they obliged to do so. Therefore we do not know exactly how many nuclear reactors have been committed by them to Pakistan. They can provide limitless assistance and claim it to be grandfathered.

 

[S A L M A N.]

Pakistan's Khushab heavy water reactor is believed to have a large amount of indigenous content. Multiple sources of literature point out that the reactor drew upon a large number of local industries (both in the public and private sector). The names of HMC, KSB Pumps, PEL, Descon, etc figure prominently in available literature. The absolute truth, however, will never be known.

However, this much is clear: Pakistan has atleast part of the capability required to manufacture nuclear power plants indigenously. But there is a catch: modern nuclear safety standards and IAEA regulations require the reactor manufacturer to have a lot of experience and capability. Pakistan's capability is in the military/non-IAEA certified reactors domain and the capability may not be upto the IAEA's requirements. The atrophy of key human resource may be another issue hampering Pakistan's indigenous NPP manufacturing capability.

 

[Karl]

Pakistan could just about replicate the 125MWe Kanupp-1 reactor. But that is a 60 year old vintage design.

 

[AsifIjaz]

A decadeand a half ago.. a team from Pakistan visited a former USSR state where small nuclear plants were inspected and evaluated for using the same approach in Pakistan.
It was determined feasible and doable. Fortunately, then we embarked on the journey with China and rest is history.

So, based upon this information I am speculating here ... yes we can.. the size may not be big enough and the technology used may not be latest

 

[sparten]

Again, people are concentrating on the technical issue and ignoring the commercial and economic feasibility. We can make reactors. We have shown if by commissioning multiple ones of our local design and manufacture.
Generating power on the other hand has to be commercially feasible.

 

[My-Analogous]

-Current and previous Civil Nuclear power plants were manufactured and operated with Canadian and Chinese help.

How will Pakistan manage to get help in the presence of NPT and NSG?

Nuclear Power in Pakistan - World Nuclear Association

Pakistan has six operating reactors. Because Pakistan is outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty due to its weapons programme, it is largely excluded from trade in nuclear plant or materials, which hinders its development of civil nuclear energy.

world-nuclear.org

Pakistan 2022

Pakistan

cnpp.iaea.org

Pakistan already made few power plant of small scale and then are less then 100 MW and for study purpose

 

[alibaz]

Is it really economically feasible to go for own power plants manufacturing once there are no political and technical issues in procurement.

 

[S.Y.A]

Is it really economically feasible to go for own power plants manufacturing once there are no political and technical issues in procurement.

not at first, no. jf-17 model should be applied to everything pakistan intends to do: collaboration with a leading player in said tech, and then gradual localization.

 

[khail007]

Pakistan is far from the manufacturing sector at full scale, but efficiently integrating and modifying for its own diverse requirements with available resources.
In brief, when the wheel is already there so no need to re-invent it just utilize it for efficient use.
IMO, Pakistan is paying attention to manufacturing only some sub-systems and is dependent on the main/major parts of it, but still, my opinion could be flawed.

 

[alibaz]

not at first, no. jf-17 model should be applied to everything pakistan intends to do: collaboration with a leading player in said tech, and then gradual localization.

JF has an important catch i.e. collaborate with a leading player who has enough strength and clout to ensure export this product in numbers. This export will reduce manufacturing cost and earn profits which can again be reinvested in R&D as well as production of superior product. Manufacturing few products for only self use is not economical for a country like us.