Nuclear Power Plants in Pakistan

[ghazi52]

Pakistan in 2015 produced 111 TWh of electricity, 41 TWh of this from oil, 29 from natural gas and 34 from hydro. Nuclear power makes a small contribution to total electricity production and requirements, supplying only 6.1 TWh (5.5%) of the electricity in 2015. There was no export and virtually no import, and about 17% of production is lost during transmission. Consumption in 2015 came to about 88 TWh or about 450 kWh per capita on average – although around one-quarter of the population has no access to electricity. Total installed capacity was about 25 GWe as of June 2017b, but often only about 12 GWe is operable.

Energy policy

In July 2013 the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved about 3.5 GWe of new power projects totalling PKR 1303 billion ($12.4 billion), comprising 2200 MWe nuclear, 425 MWe gas combined cycle, and 969 MWe hydro. These are designed to reduce the high reliance on oil and to reduce power costs. All depend on Chinese support.

Electricity infrastructure is a significant part of the $51 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects from 2016 which will link Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang region to Pakistan’s deep-water port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. The CPEC includes roads and railways running much of the length of Pakistan and funded by three Chinese banks, and a 4000 MW HVDC grid development costing $1.5 billion over 2017-18. Some $33 billion of the CPEC total is for energy infrastructure, notably 10 GWe of generating capacity by 2020, mostly coal-fired, which is expected to provide 24% of the country’s power by 2020. Lignite is the main fuel envisaged, from the Thar Desert region of Sindh.

CPEC projects are a significant element in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and are unprecedented in scale in Pakistan.

In 2005 the Energy Security Plan was adopted by the government, which called for a huge increase in generating capacity to more than 160 GWe by 2030. Significant power shortages are reported, and load shedding is common.

Nuclear policy

An expansion of nuclear capacity has long been a central element of Pakistan's energy policy.

The 2005 Energy Security Plan included the intention of lifting nuclear capacity to 8800 MWe in the long term, 900 MWe of this by 2015 and a further 1500 MWe by 2020. Projections included four further Chinese reactors of 300 MWe each and seven of 1000 MWe, all PWR. There were tentative plans for China to build two 1000 MWe PWR units at Karachi as KANUPP 2&3, but China then in 2007 deferred development of its CNP-1000 type which would have been the only one of that size able to be exported. Pakistan then turned its attention to building smaller units with higher local content. However, in 2013 China revived its 1000 MWe designs with export intent, and made overtures to Pakistan for the ACP1000 design, which became Hualong One – see below.

In August 2011 it was reported that Pakistan aimed for 8000 MWe nuclear at ten sites by 2030. PAEC has apparently selected six new sites on the basis of Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) advice. These are the Qadirabad-Bulloki (QB) link canal near Qadirabad Headworks; Dera Ghazi Khan canal near Taunsa Barrage; Taunsa-Panjnad canal near Multan; Nara canal near Sukkur; Pat Feeder canal near Guddu; and Kabul River near Nowshera. Early in 2012 Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) said that four reactors were planned for the Taunsa-Panjnad canal near Multan in Punjab.

In January 2014 PAEC announced its intention to build five further 1100 MWe nuclear plants to meet anticipated electricity demand, and have 8.9 GWe of nuclear capacity online by 2030. "With more than 55 reactor-years of successful operating experience to its credit, the PAEC can confidently move from technology acquisition status to actually starting contributing sizable electrical energy to the system." PAEC was then quoted as saying that eight sites would be chosen for a further 32 units, four 1100 MWe units at each, so that nuclear power supplied one-quarter of the country’s electricity from 40 GWe of capacity. This evidently assumes a more than tenfold increase in electricity demand by a future date well beyond 2030.

PAEC said an initial 1100 MWe plant would be built at Muzaffargarh, on the Taunsa-Panjnad canal near Multan in southwest Punjab. It was also reported that discussions with China were under way to supply three nuclear power units for about $13 billion.

Nuclear facilities

Reactors operating in Pakistan

Reactor Province Type MWe net Construction start Commercial operation Planned close

Karachi 1 Sindh PHWR 125.............. 125 1966 December 1972 2019
Chashma 1 Punjab CNP-300............. 300 1993 June 2000 2040
Chashma 2 Punjab CNP-300............. 300 2005 May 2011 2051
Chashma 3 Punjab CNP-300 .............315 May 2011 December 2016 2056
Chashma 4 Punjab CNP-300.............. 315 Dec 2011 September 2017 2057
Total (5) 1355

Karachi is also known as KANUPP; Chashma as CHASNUPP.

Enriched fuel for the PWRs is imported from China.

PAEC is responsible for all nuclear energy and research applications in the country. It has two divisions which are responsible for nuclear power programs: Nuclear Power Generation (NUPG) and Nuclear Power Projects (NUPP). The NUPG directorate oversees the operational units, and the NUPP directorate is concerned with the design and construction of planned units, and is closely aligned with the PNRA.

Karachi 1

PAEC's first nuclear power reactor is a small 100 MWe (90 MWe net) Canadian pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) which started up in 1971 and which is under international safeguards – Karachi 1 (K1/KANUPP 1) at Paradise Point in Sindh province, about 25 km west of Karachi. It is operated at reduced power, and is under review by PAEC because of its age.

At Karachi (KANUPP) a 4800 m3/day MED desalination plant was commissioned in 2012, though in 2014 it was reported as 1600 m3/day.

Chashma 1-4

The second unit is Chashma 1 (CHASNUPP 1) in Punjab province in the north, a 325 MWe (300 MWe net) two-loop pressurised water reactor (PWR) supplied by CNNC under safeguards. The main part of the plant was designed by Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute (SNERDI), based on Qinshan 1. It started up in May 2000. Design lifetime is 40 years. It, and the following three units at the same site, were built using international design codes and standards.

Construction of its twin, Chashma 2 (CHASNUPP 2), started in December 2005. It was reported to cost PKR 51.46 billion ($ 490 million, with $20 million of this financed by China). A safeguards agreement with the IAEA was signed in 2006 and grid connection was in March 2011, with commercial operation in May. Upgrades have added 5 MWe since (to 330 MWe gross).

In June 2008 the government announced plans to build units 3&4 at Chashma, each 320 MWe gross and largely financed by China. A further agreement for China's help with the project was signed in October 2008, and given prominence as a counter to the US-India agreement shortly preceding it.

In March 2009 China's SNERDI announced that it was proceeding with design of Chashma 3&4, with China Zhongyuan Engineering Co. Ltd (CZEC) as the general contractor and China Nuclear Industry No.5 Construction Company as installer. In April 2009, a design contract with SNERDI was signed, and the government said that it had approved the project at a cost of $2.37 billion, with $1.75 billion of this involving "a foreign exchange component". In March 2010 Pakistan announced that it had agreed the terms for Chashma 3&4, whereby China would provide 82% of the total $1.912 billion financing as three 20-year low-interest loans. It would also provide fuel for the reactors’ lifetime nominally of 40 years.

The main construction contract was signed in June 2010, detailing that the two 340 MWe CNP-300 (315 MWe net) units were to be completed in eight years. They will have a design lifetime of 40 years and be under IAEA safeguards. Construction of unit 3 officially started at the end of May 2011, and unit 4 in December 2011. Early in 2014 PAEC said they were several months ahead of schedule. In 2015 CZEC said completion of unit 3 would be in 2016, and in fact it was grid-connected in October, with full power and commercial operation in December. Unit 4 started up in March 2017 and was grid-connected late in June 2017.

The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) has raised some questions about China's supply of Chasma 3&4. Contracts for units 1&2 were signed in 1990 and 2000 respectively, before 2004 when China joined the NSG, which maintains an embargo on sales of nuclear equipment to Pakistan. China argued that units 3&4 are similarly 'grandfathered', and arrangements are consistent with those for units 1&2.

In inaugurating the Chashma 4 unit, the prime minister said the government "is committed to achieve [its] goal of adding 8800 MWe of nuclear energy to the national grid by 2030," a total of 2322 MWe being now under construction.

Reactors under construction in Pakistan

Reactor Province Type MWe gross Construction start Planned commercial operation

Karachi 2................... Sindh Hualong One/ACP1000........ 1161 Aug 2015 late 2021
Karachi 3................... Sindh Hualong One/ACP1000........ 1161 May 2016 late 2022

Total (2) 2322

Karachi is also known as KANUPP.

Karachi 2&3

In June 2013 the Planning Commission said that two CNNC 1000 MWe class reactors would be used for Karachi 2 and 3 (KANUPP 2&3) near Karachi unit 1. Two coastal sites had been under consideration for the twin 1100 MWe units. CNNC in April 2013 announced an export agreement for the ACP1000, nominally 1100 MWe, apparently for Pakistan. This was confirmed in June by the PAEC which said that the next nuclear project would be 1100 MWe class units at the Karachi Coastal power station.

In July 2013 ECNEC approved two units of the Karachi Costal power project with net generation capacity of 2117 MWe. The total cost of this was estimated at PKR 959 billion ($9.116 billion), with $6.5 billion (68%) being vendor finance. PAEC also said that 82% of the total cost would be financed by China. At the end of August 2013 contracts were signed in Shanghai with CNNC, CZEC, China Nuclear Power Engineering Co. Ltd. (CNPE), Nuclear Power Institute of China (NPIC), and East China Electric Power Designing Institute (ECEPDI). Groundbreaking at the site near Paradise Point, 25 km west of Karachi, took place in November 2013, but in October 2014 the Sindh high court ruling stopped site work following a challenge on environmental grounds, and the restraining order was extended to early December. The project was re-launched in August 2015, and construction of the first unit started then.

The Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority received the safety analysis of China’s ACP1000 reactor from CNNC and after completing the review granted a construction licence, for the CNNC version of Hualong One, 1161 MWe gross.

In April 2015 China Nuclear Engineering & Construction Group Co (CNEC) won the tender for civil engineering construction and installation work for the conventional island of the plant, which it said would use Hualong One reactors. Construction of the first unit started in August 2015 and is expected to take 72 months (52 months for the conventional island). Construction of the second unit started at the end of May 2016, according to the IAEA, but without any announcement or notification on the PAEC website. In July 2017 the reactor vessel for unit 2 completed pressure tests at China First Heavy Machinery Group's factory in China, and in September it was installed.

A press report in January 2017 said that work on both units was intensifying to meet the operational target, and that it was a CPEC project. In March 2017 the IAEA approved Pakistan’s request to apply international safeguards to both units.

In light of its inability to buy uranium on the open market, PAEC says that Pakistan has agreed with CNNC to provide lifetime fuel supply for the reactors, specified as 60 years.

Chashma 5

In November 2010 the PAEC is reported to have signed a construction agreement with CNNC for a fifth unit at Chashma. In February 2013 a further agreement was signed by PAEC with CNNC for a 1000 MWe unit at Chashma. It was reported that China expected that this deal would be controversial under the NPT and guidelines of the NSG. Early in 2013 CNNC confirmed its intention to build a 1000 MWe class reactor, and said it would be an ACP1000 unit, though not necessarily at Chashma. The status of any continuing plan for Chashma 5 is very uncertain, and it may have been displaced by plans for a plant near Multan in southwest Punjab. Certainly it has been overtaken by the Karachi Coastal power project.

Front end fuel cycle

The government set a target of producing 300 tonnes of uranium per year from 2015 to meet one-third of anticipated requirements, but this has not been realised. Low-grade ore is known in central Punjab at Bannu Basin and Suleman Range. In 2015 production was 45 tU.

In July 2017 CNNC signed a framework agreement with PAEC for technical cooperation in the exploration and development of uranium resources.

A small (15,000 SWU/yr) uranium centrifuge enrichment plant at Kahuta has been operated since 1984 and does not have any apparent civil use. It was expanded threefold in about 1991. A newer plant is reported to be at Gadwal. It is not under safeguards and it is not clear whether PAEC has any involvement with these plants.


http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-o-s/pakistan.aspx

 

[ghazi52]

Enriched fuel for the PWRs is imported from China.

In 2006 PAEC announced that it was preparing to set up separate and purely civil conversion, enrichment and fuel fabrication plants as a new $1.2 billion Pakistan Nuclear Power Fuel Complex (PNPFC) for PWR-type reactors which would be under IAEA safeguards and managed separately from existing facilities. However, constraints imposed on Pakistan by the Nuclear Suppliers Group may mean that all civil nuclear development is tied to China, and there may be no point in proceeding with this project.

Waste management

The PAEC has responsibility for radioactive waste management. A Central Radioactive Waste Management Fund is proposed in a new policy. Waste management centres are proposed for Karachi and Chashma.

Used fuel is currently stored at each reactor in pools. Longer-term dry storage at each site is proposed. The question of future reprocessing remains open.

Research and development

The Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science & Technology (PINSTECH) at Rawalpindi near Islamabad is managed by the PAEC and is one of the largest science and technology research establishments in the country. It has conducted research into reprocessing used nuclear fuel, though today it claims to be focused on research in medicine, biology, materials and physics, including production of medical radioisotopes.

Pakistan has a 10 MW pool-type research reactor, PARR-1, of 1965 vintage, supplied by the USA under the Atoms for Peace program. It was converted to use low-enriched uranium fuel in 1991, and upgraded from 5 to 10 MW. PARR-2 is an indigenous 30 kW miniature neutron source reactor (MNSR) based on Chinese design and using high-enriched fuel operating since 1974. Both are located at the PINSTECH Laboratory, Nilore, near Islamabad. They are under IAEA safeguards. One of them produces some Mo-99 from HEU targets.

New Labs at PINSTECH in Rawalpindi is reported to be a reprocessing plant for weapons-grade plutonium production, and not under safeguards. It is run by PAEC and operational since 1981. This was apparently the culmination of a plutonium weapons program predating the Kahuta HEU weapons program, and replaced an unfinished much larger reprocessing plant (100 t/yr) being built at Chashma by France, but cancelled in 1978.

At Khushab, 200 km south of Islamabad, there are four heavy water reactors dedicated to production of weapons-grade plutonium, plus a heavy water plant. The first of these, a 50 MWt 'multipurpose' PHWR, started operating in 1998. Then a large heavy water reactor was bult there from about 2002, and appeared to be operational at the end of 2009. In 2006 building of a third reactor, similar to and adjacent to the second, started, with construction proceeding rapidly, and this appeared to be operational by the end of 2013. A similar, fourth reactor was then built a few hundred metres away, and appeared operational in January 2015. These seem to add up to a substantial plutonium production capacity. Khushab is reported to be making demands upon the country's limited uranium resources. A small heavy water plant is nearby. Reprocessing of military material is reported to take place at Chashma, 80 km west, and the original French reprocessing plant is apparently under renewed construction there, a couple of kilometres southwest of Chashma 1-4 power reactors.

The Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) at Kahuta in Punjab is described as a weapons engineering R&D institute and research laboratory, focused on producing high-enriched uranium using centrifuge technology originally stolen from Urenco by Dr Abdul Q Khan. Set up about 1976 as the Engineering Research Laboratories it was a key part of Pakistan's weapons program, supported by the Army Corps of Engineers in competition with the plutonium program being pursued by PAEC. It was renamed in honour of Dr Khan in 1981.

Regulatory framework

The Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) is responsible for licensing and supervision, and regulates the safety and security of all civil nuclear materials and facilities. In respect to the Chashma reactors, and presumably also the Karachi Coastal power project, it works closely with China's National Nuclear Safety Administration. It was formed in 2001, superseding the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Board (set up by PAEC) and the Directorate of Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection.

Pakistan is party to the Convention on Nuclear Safety and two international conventions for early notification and assistance.

Non-proliferation

Pakistan is not party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) but does have its civil power reactors and two research reactors (PARR 1&2) under item-specific IAEA safeguards. An agreement for two further 340 MWe reactors – Chashma 3&4 – came into force in April 2011. In March 2017 the IAEA approved Pakistan’s request to apply international safeguards to both Karachi Coastal units, and the agreement on this came into force in May. Pakistan has refused calls for international inspections of its enrichment activities.

Pakistan's Kahuta project (incorporating Project-706) to produce a uranium bomb was launched in 1972, following a disastrous war with India. It was partly financed by Libya to 1979. In May 1974 India exploded a nuclear test close to the Pakistan border, galvanising Pakistani efforts. The project was disbanded in 1983 after a successful cold test of weapon components.

In May 1998 Pakistan exploded five atomic devices in Baluchistan. At least one was evidently made from enriched uranium, but the Chagai II test in Kharan desert used plutonium produced by New Labs.

Pakistan is reported to be the sole nation blocking agreement of the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT) in Geneva negotiations.

Through the activities of Dr Khan, a centrifuge plant and nuclear weapons designs were secretly supplied to Libya from the late 1990s to 2003 to help build a weapons program there. He also transferred centrifuge technology to North Korea in the 1990s, and to Iran. This is the main basis for the NSG refusing to ease nuclear trade sanctions for Pakistan, as it has for India. China is the only country to act in defiance of trade sanctions, and has deepened cooperation since the international US-led concessions to India in 2008. This is most obvious in 2013 agreements to build the twin-unit Karachi Coastal power plant and the CNNC contract with PAEC for lifetime fuel supply for this.

Addressing the 3rd Nuclear Security Summit at The Hague in March 2014, the prime minister said that Pakistan had been running a safe and secure nuclear program for over four decades with the expertise, manpower and infrastructure to produce civil nuclear energy. He called for Pakistan’s inclusion in all international export control regimes, especially the NSG. He pointed out that international treaties and forums would supplement Pakistan’s national actions to fortify nuclear security.

Domestically, he said that today the country’s nuclear security is supported by five pillars – a strong command and control system led by the National Command Authority (NCA); an integrated intelligence system; a rigorous regulatory regime; a comprehensive export control regime; and active international cooperation. The security regime covers physical protection, material control and accounting, border controls and radiological emergencies, he said.

Pakistan is a major recipient of technical cooperation from the IAEA, and is one of 35 members of the IAEA Board of Governors, though it remains outside the NPT.

http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-o-s/pakistan.aspx

 

[Khafee]

@ghazi52 Sir, link to OP?

 

[H!TchHiker]

@ghazi52 Sir, link to OP?

http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-o-s/pakistan.aspx

 

[BHarwana]

First of all not all Pakistani nuclear power plants are listed in OP, secondly the Chashma and Khushab Nuclear power plans have their capacity increased massively not sure about the Khushab Nuclear plant how much has increased but Chashma had a massive capacity increased by Chinese even before CPEC they were working and building new reactors so this report is kind of out dated.

 

[N.Siddiqui]

This map gives a better perspective, NILORE and Kahuta has also nuclear reactors, small ones and not used for power generation. Also Khushab has 50MWx4 nuclear reactors, plutonium based and are military related.

 

[volatile]

That will be the key in coming years to come since Urnanium producing nations are not willing to sell atleast till we have stable economy ,With Nuke reactors Chsma 5 will be built may be feasibility studies are already done just to avoid any unwanted back lash like Indian rundi rona better to be quiet

In light of its inability to buy uranium on the open market, PAEC says that Pakistan has agreed with CNNC to provide lifetime fuel supply for the reactors, specified as 60 years.

 

[My-Analogous]

Pakistan in 2015 produced 111 TWh of electricity, 41 TWh of this from oil, 29 from natural gas and 34 from hydro. Nuclear power makes a small contribution to total electricity production and requirements, supplying only 6.1 TWh (5.5%) of the electricity in 2015. There was no export and virtually no import, and about 17% of production is lost during transmission. Consumption in 2015 came to about 88 TWh or about 450 kWh per capita on average – although around one-quarter of the population has no access to electricity. Total installed capacity was about 25 GWe as of June 2017b, but often only about 12 GWe is operable.

Energy policy

In July 2013 the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved about 3.5 GWe of new power projects totalling PKR 1303 billion ($12.4 billion), comprising 2200 MWe nuclear, 425 MWe gas combined cycle, and 969 MWe hydro. These are designed to reduce the high reliance on oil and to reduce power costs. All depend on Chinese support.

Electricity infrastructure is a significant part of the $51 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects from 2016 which will link Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang region to Pakistan’s deep-water port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. The CPEC includes roads and railways running much of the length of Pakistan and funded by three Chinese banks, and a 4000 MW HVDC grid development costing $1.5 billion over 2017-18. Some $33 billion of the CPEC total is for energy infrastructure, notably 10 GWe of generating capacity by 2020, mostly coal-fired, which is expected to provide 24% of the country’s power by 2020. Lignite is the main fuel envisaged, from the Thar Desert region of Sindh.

CPEC projects are a significant element in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and are unprecedented in scale in Pakistan.

In 2005 the Energy Security Plan was adopted by the government, which called for a huge increase in generating capacity to more than 160 GWe by 2030. Significant power shortages are reported, and load shedding is common.

Nuclear policy

An expansion of nuclear capacity has long been a central element of Pakistan's energy policy.

The 2005 Energy Security Plan included the intention of lifting nuclear capacity to 8800 MWe in the long term, 900 MWe of this by 2015 and a further 1500 MWe by 2020. Projections included four further Chinese reactors of 300 MWe each and seven of 1000 MWe, all PWR. There were tentative plans for China to build two 1000 MWe PWR units at Karachi as KANUPP 2&3, but China then in 2007 deferred development of its CNP-1000 type which would have been the only one of that size able to be exported. Pakistan then turned its attention to building smaller units with higher local content. However, in 2013 China revived its 1000 MWe designs with export intent, and made overtures to Pakistan for the ACP1000 design, which became Hualong One – see below.

In August 2011 it was reported that Pakistan aimed for 8000 MWe nuclear at ten sites by 2030. PAEC has apparently selected six new sites on the basis of Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) advice. These are the Qadirabad-Bulloki (QB) link canal near Qadirabad Headworks; Dera Ghazi Khan canal near Taunsa Barrage; Taunsa-Panjnad canal near Multan; Nara canal near Sukkur; Pat Feeder canal near Guddu; and Kabul River near Nowshera. Early in 2012 Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) said that four reactors were planned for the Taunsa-Panjnad canal near Multan in Punjab.

In January 2014 PAEC announced its intention to build five further 1100 MWe nuclear plants to meet anticipated electricity demand, and have 8.9 GWe of nuclear capacity online by 2030. "With more than 55 reactor-years of successful operating experience to its credit, the PAEC can confidently move from technology acquisition status to actually starting contributing sizable electrical energy to the system." PAEC was then quoted as saying that eight sites would be chosen for a further 32 units, four 1100 MWe units at each, so that nuclear power supplied one-quarter of the country’s electricity from 40 GWe of capacity. This evidently assumes a more than tenfold increase in electricity demand by a future date well beyond 2030.

PAEC said an initial 1100 MWe plant would be built at Muzaffargarh, on the Taunsa-Panjnad canal near Multan in southwest Punjab. It was also reported that discussions with China were under way to supply three nuclear power units for about $13 billion.

Nuclear facilities

Reactors operating in Pakistan

Reactor Province Type MWe net Construction start Commercial operation Planned close

Karachi 1 Sindh PHWR 125.............. 125 1966 December 1972 2019
Chashma 1 Punjab CNP-300............. 300 1993 June 2000 2040
Chashma 2 Punjab CNP-300............. 300 2005 May 2011 2051
Chashma 3 Punjab CNP-300 .............315 May 2011 December 2016 2056
Chashma 4 Punjab CNP-300.............. 315 Dec 2011 September 2017 2057
Total (5) 1355

Karachi is also known as KANUPP; Chashma as CHASNUPP.

Enriched fuel for the PWRs is imported from China.

PAEC is responsible for all nuclear energy and research applications in the country. It has two divisions which are responsible for nuclear power programs: Nuclear Power Generation (NUPG) and Nuclear Power Projects (NUPP). The NUPG directorate oversees the operational units, and the NUPP directorate is concerned with the design and construction of planned units, and is closely aligned with the PNRA.

Karachi 1

PAEC's first nuclear power reactor is a small 100 MWe (90 MWe net) Canadian pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) which started up in 1971 and which is under international safeguards – Karachi 1 (K1/KANUPP 1) at Paradise Point in Sindh province, about 25 km west of Karachi. It is operated at reduced power, and is under review by PAEC because of its age.

At Karachi (KANUPP) a 4800 m3/day MED desalination plant was commissioned in 2012, though in 2014 it was reported as 1600 m3/day.

Chashma 1-4

The second unit is Chashma 1 (CHASNUPP 1) in Punjab province in the north, a 325 MWe (300 MWe net) two-loop pressurised water reactor (PWR) supplied by CNNC under safeguards. The main part of the plant was designed by Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute (SNERDI), based on Qinshan 1. It started up in May 2000. Design lifetime is 40 years. It, and the following three units at the same site, were built using international design codes and standards.

Construction of its twin, Chashma 2 (CHASNUPP 2), started in December 2005. It was reported to cost PKR 51.46 billion ($ 490 million, with $20 million of this financed by China). A safeguards agreement with the IAEA was signed in 2006 and grid connection was in March 2011, with commercial operation in May. Upgrades have added 5 MWe since (to 330 MWe gross).

In June 2008 the government announced plans to build units 3&4 at Chashma, each 320 MWe gross and largely financed by China. A further agreement for China's help with the project was signed in October 2008, and given prominence as a counter to the US-India agreement shortly preceding it.

In March 2009 China's SNERDI announced that it was proceeding with design of Chashma 3&4, with China Zhongyuan Engineering Co. Ltd (CZEC) as the general contractor and China Nuclear Industry No.5 Construction Company as installer. In April 2009, a design contract with SNERDI was signed, and the government said that it had approved the project at a cost of $2.37 billion, with $1.75 billion of this involving "a foreign exchange component". In March 2010 Pakistan announced that it had agreed the terms for Chashma 3&4, whereby China would provide 82% of the total $1.912 billion financing as three 20-year low-interest loans. It would also provide fuel for the reactors’ lifetime nominally of 40 years.

The main construction contract was signed in June 2010, detailing that the two 340 MWe CNP-300 (315 MWe net) units were to be completed in eight years. They will have a design lifetime of 40 years and be under IAEA safeguards. Construction of unit 3 officially started at the end of May 2011, and unit 4 in December 2011. Early in 2014 PAEC said they were several months ahead of schedule. In 2015 CZEC said completion of unit 3 would be in 2016, and in fact it was grid-connected in October, with full power and commercial operation in December. Unit 4 started up in March 2017 and was grid-connected late in June 2017.

The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) has raised some questions about China's supply of Chasma 3&4. Contracts for units 1&2 were signed in 1990 and 2000 respectively, before 2004 when China joined the NSG, which maintains an embargo on sales of nuclear equipment to Pakistan. China argued that units 3&4 are similarly 'grandfathered', and arrangements are consistent with those for units 1&2.

In inaugurating the Chashma 4 unit, the prime minister said the government "is committed to achieve [its] goal of adding 8800 MWe of nuclear energy to the national grid by 2030," a total of 2322 MWe being now under construction.

Reactors under construction in Pakistan

Reactor Province Type MWe gross Construction start Planned commercial operation

Karachi 2................... Sindh Hualong One/ACP1000........ 1161 Aug 2015 late 2021
Karachi 3................... Sindh Hualong One/ACP1000........ 1161 May 2016 late 2022

Total (2) 2322

Karachi is also known as KANUPP.

Karachi 2&3

In June 2013 the Planning Commission said that two CNNC 1000 MWe class reactors would be used for Karachi 2 and 3 (KANUPP 2&3) near Karachi unit 1. Two coastal sites had been under consideration for the twin 1100 MWe units. CNNC in April 2013 announced an export agreement for the ACP1000, nominally 1100 MWe, apparently for Pakistan. This was confirmed in June by the PAEC which said that the next nuclear project would be 1100 MWe class units at the Karachi Coastal power station.

In July 2013 ECNEC approved two units of the Karachi Costal power project with net generation capacity of 2117 MWe. The total cost of this was estimated at PKR 959 billion ($9.116 billion), with $6.5 billion (68%) being vendor finance. PAEC also said that 82% of the total cost would be financed by China. At the end of August 2013 contracts were signed in Shanghai with CNNC, CZEC, China Nuclear Power Engineering Co. Ltd. (CNPE), Nuclear Power Institute of China (NPIC), and East China Electric Power Designing Institute (ECEPDI). Groundbreaking at the site near Paradise Point, 25 km west of Karachi, took place in November 2013, but in October 2014 the Sindh high court ruling stopped site work following a challenge on environmental grounds, and the restraining order was extended to early December. The project was re-launched in August 2015, and construction of the first unit started then.

The Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority received the safety analysis of China’s ACP1000 reactor from CNNC and after completing the review granted a construction licence, for the CNNC version of Hualong One, 1161 MWe gross.

In April 2015 China Nuclear Engineering & Construction Group Co (CNEC) won the tender for civil engineering construction and installation work for the conventional island of the plant, which it said would use Hualong One reactors. Construction of the first unit started in August 2015 and is expected to take 72 months (52 months for the conventional island). Construction of the second unit started at the end of May 2016, according to the IAEA, but without any announcement or notification on the PAEC website. In July 2017 the reactor vessel for unit 2 completed pressure tests at China First Heavy Machinery Group's factory in China, and in September it was installed.

A press report in January 2017 said that work on both units was intensifying to meet the operational target, and that it was a CPEC project. In March 2017 the IAEA approved Pakistan’s request to apply international safeguards to both units.

In light of its inability to buy uranium on the open market, PAEC says that Pakistan has agreed with CNNC to provide lifetime fuel supply for the reactors, specified as 60 years.

Chashma 5

In November 2010 the PAEC is reported to have signed a construction agreement with CNNC for a fifth unit at Chashma. In February 2013 a further agreement was signed by PAEC with CNNC for a 1000 MWe unit at Chashma. It was reported that China expected that this deal would be controversial under the NPT and guidelines of the NSG. Early in 2013 CNNC confirmed its intention to build a 1000 MWe class reactor, and said it would be an ACP1000 unit, though not necessarily at Chashma. The status of any continuing plan for Chashma 5 is very uncertain, and it may have been displaced by plans for a plant near Multan in southwest Punjab. Certainly it has been overtaken by the Karachi Coastal power project.

Front end fuel cycle

The government set a target of producing 300 tonnes of uranium per year from 2015 to meet one-third of anticipated requirements, but this has not been realised. Low-grade ore is known in central Punjab at Bannu Basin and Suleman Range. In 2015 production was 45 tU.

In July 2017 CNNC signed a framework agreement with PAEC for technical cooperation in the exploration and development of uranium resources.

A small (15,000 SWU/yr) uranium centrifuge enrichment plant at Kahuta has been operated since 1984 and does not have any apparent civil use. It was expanded threefold in about 1991. A newer plant is reported to be at Gadwal. It is not under safeguards and it is not clear whether PAEC has any involvement with these plants.


http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-o-s/pakistan.aspx

Where is khushab?

 

[ziaulislam]

This map gives a better perspective, NILORE and Kahuta has also nuclear reactors, small ones and not used for power generation. Also Khushab has 50MWx4 nuclear reactors, plutonium based and are military related.

its though inaccurate KANUPP I is decomonished
II,III will be completed in 2021

CHASNUPP I-IV are completed and V will start soon deal signed soon
no other plants in activity or proposed

 

[ghazi52]

Where is khushab?

 

[Maxpane]

good

 

[ghazi52]

Construction under way on both K-2 and K-3. Can't share pictures. Dome is placed on K-2 while K-3 dome will be placed next year feb.

 

[ziaulislam]

Construction under way on both K-2 and K-3. Can't share pictures. Dome is placed on K-2 while K-3 dome will be placed next year feb.

When will they be fully ready?

 

[ghazi52]

When will they be fully ready?

Two HPR1000 units are under construction at Pakistan's Karachi nuclear power plant. Construction began on Karachi unit 2 in 2015 and unit 3 in 2016; the units are planned to enter commercial operation in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

 

[ghazi52]

August 2018.

K-3 Dome placing in progress, K-2 Dome done.