Seventh nuclear power plant to start operation next month

ISLAMABAD: The country’s 7th nuclear power plant, commonly known as K-3, will start commercial operation by next month as it is in the final stages of commissioning and after operational and safety tests proving up to mark.

Official sources said that with the commissioning of K-3 and decommissioning of K-1, the total installed capacity of six nuclear power plants would cross 3620 megawatts (MW) as the plant is expected to achieve Commercial Operation Date (COD) in March this year. With the induction of K-2 and K-3 into the national grid, the share of nuclear power in the energy mix would exceed 10 per cent, the sources said.

After receiving a formal fuel load permit from the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA), the loading of fuel to the nuclear power plant has already been completed. It is pertinent to mention here that a new era in the nuclear power development programme of Pakistan commenced with the signing of the Agreement for Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy between the governments of Pakistan and China in 1986.

The first concrete step in the remarkable journey was taken 30 years ago when the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) signed the contract for the construction and installation of a 325-megawatt Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) at Chashma on December 31, 1991.

The cooperation strengthened with the construction of three more nuclear power plants at the Chashma Nuclear Power Generation Station (CNPGS) site. The contract for the construction of two more units (K-2 and K-3) having a generation capacity of 1100 megawatts each near Karachi was signed by the Nawaz Sharif government on February 18, 2013.

Despite corona pandemic, the construction work continued on both K-2 and K-3. K-2 successfully started commercial operation on May 21, 2021. The opening ceremony will be held on higher echelon, the sources said.