Completion of the Chashma Nuclear Power Plants CHASNUPP-III and CHASNUPP-IV by 2016, 340 megawatts (MW) respectively, will help meet the target of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) for generating 8,800 MW by the year 2030 via nuclear power reactors.
The plants reactors and other facilities are being built and operated by the PAEC with Chinese support.
In November 2006, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) approved an agreement with the PAEC for new nuclear power plants to be built in the country with Chinese assistance.
The 35-member board of governors of the IAEA unanimously approved the safeguards agreement for any future nuclear power plants that Pakistan would construct.
According to official sources, the allocation of budget for the PAEC for the financial year 2013-14.is estimated at around Rs49,512.186 million
“An amount of Rs34.6 billion has been set aside for Chashma nuclear power plants C3 and C4. The total cost of these two projects is Rs190 billion which will be partially funded by a Rs136 billion Chinese loan,” an official said.
The government has so far spent 62.4 billion on the mega-project having a 660 MW generation capacity.
With an additional spending of 34.6 billion, the government has already completed almost half of the work, the official said.
The 300 MW Chashma nuclear power plant-I is a pressurized water reactor that began commercial operation in 2000.It is located at Kundian in Punjab while the 300 MW Chashma Nuclear PowerPlant-II is part of the Chashma Nuclear Power Complex in the north-western region of Thal Doab.
On April 28, 2009 a general engineering and design contract for CHASNUPP-3 and CHASNUPP-4 was signed with Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute (SNERDI).
680MW nuclear plants to start generating power by 2016
