It may be just a minor milestone for civil society to convince the Sindh High Court to order Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) to stop work on two nuclear power plants in Karachi till case against PAEC is concluded but it’s a long way to go as the case challenges a number of stakeholders in this business deal. Civil society petitioners, which include few renowned nuclear scientists as well, have raised some quite valid questions. Why will these nuclear plants, known as K-2 and K-3, be equipped with ACP-1000 type reactors which is not even a prior proven design? Petitioners questioned why the was Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report prepared without inviting public participation and opinion, and why was this report kept secret from public for some ‘unknown’ reasons?
Needless to point out that Karachi, a city of 21 million people, is no way prepared to handle even a large scale fire or moderate earthquake. A nuclear disaster such as one that happened in Chernobyl in 1980s or a recent one in Japan, will be a dreadful nightmare for the Karachiites.
Apparently all the business deals, to the tune of 10 billion dollars, have already been signed. Therefore, it may not be an easy task for the court and civil society to put a spanner for a long time. But in case of a nuclear disaster it will be a matter of life and death for a city which is presently not in a desert but will become a mass graveyard and a permanent desert for the centuries to come. One may presume that better sense will prevail and Karachiites will not be subjected to nuclear experiments on unproven reactor designs.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail, Saudi Arabia
I think author needs tunning and to get educated on the above mentioned study of nuclear technology and power plants. PAEC after careful examination and detailed study have decided to go for operating and constructing these power plants. This is not the first time Pakistan is going to operate power plants, it has a vast experience of operating power plants. The Chinese collaboration with Pakistan are not at all experimenting with any new adventures. These types of power plants are working and building already so there is no need to worry. The Governments knows that they cannot risk their own states just to be in the race of nuclear power. There is a need to realize that we should appreciate the developments despite of all time criticizing them.
The sites of nuclear power plants are selected after a rigorous process that involves IAEA – the global nuclear watchdog for maintaining best safety and security practices. The sites of the upcoming plants have been approved after tedious consideration of huge data that includes seismic, tsunami-related, meteorological, oceanic and deep underground features. Like the earlier plants in Pakistan, this data has been incorporated into the designs of the power plants.
Presentations have been made in front of Sindh Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). SEPA gave its approval for the project. In addition, Pakistan follows IAEA’s extensive guidelines on nuclear safety and complies with international standards. These plants will be the latest and cutting-edge technology and are based on advanced Chinese versions of French pressurized water reactor, a technology that China acquired in early 1990s. Chinese have an experience of two decades of safe operation of these reactors. China made several design changes and added additional safety features.
I am unable to understand the psyche of such people who raise baseless concerns on every developmental progress. PAEC has come up with sophisticated plan to eradicate power crisis from the country. That's why PAEC is going to install nuclear reactors in Karachi. The site for the installation of nuclear power plants has selected after through assessment of location. People siting in PAEC are well aware of nuclear accidents that's why they have taken various preemptive steps to avoid any kind of nuclear disaster in future. Anti-Nuclear activists from the very beginning opposed nuclear reactors installations but unable to provide logical evidences for nuclear failures. Today, Pakistan is legging behind due to massive power cuts and let appreciate the PAEC's efforts to eradicate power crisis.
This is called a difference between people which are equipped with knowledge and those with ignorance. The ACP 1000 is not a new design as such, in fact it is a latest version of PWR which is being in use from couple of decades. Logically, this allegation of being any kind of adventure in Karachi should be discarded and check out the knowledgeable pages of logics.
How a person sitting in Saudi Arabia knows better than the nuclear scientists sitting in the laboratories, lame argument that Masood khan has made and he should not present his views for the whole nation. Pakistani people know the importance of overcoming the energy crises. ACP-1000 reactors are the advanced version AP-1000 Westinghouse (which are already operational in different states) with additional safety features and double containment.
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