POWER November 2011 - 28

TOP PLANTs
Chashma Nuclear Power Plant, Chashma City, Punjab, Pakistan
Owner/operator: Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission
Pakistan's appetite for electricity is
expected to grow perhaps seven times
by 2030, according to U.S. Department
of Energy estimates, and the country
expects that nuclear power will play a
large role in meeting that need. However,
the existing nuclear infrastructure
is relatively small (about 2%); only
725 MW are online today, from three
reactors.
The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission
(PAEC) is responsible for the country's
nuclear research and development
as well as for the construction of commercial
nuclear power plants. PAEC expects
that Pakistan will have 8,800 MW
of nuclear power operational by 2030.
The first nuclear power plant constructed
in Pakistan was a 125-MW Canadian
pressurized heavy water reactor
design that entered service in 1971. The
other two reactors are located at the
Chashma Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP),
located in northern Pakistan, about 280
kilometers southwest of Islamabad, on
the left bank of the River Indus. Both
facilities are operated under international
safeguards through the International
Atomic Energy Agency, covering
issues such as material accountability,
physical security, and surveillance. Recall
that Pakistan is not a signatory to
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
because of its nuclear weapons program
and is therefore outside of the normal
international processes used to import
nuclear technology into developing
countries.
Starting Small
The CNPP houses the first two 300-MW
units that are in operation, and two
more units are expected to be added to
the complex in the near future. Both
reactors are pressurized water reactors
(Figure 1).
CNPP Unit 1 entered commercial
service in June 2000. Construction of
Unit 2 began with a basement concrete
pour begun on December 28, 2005.
That unit entered commercial service in
1. The Chashma Nuclear Power Complex. Courtesy: China National Nuclear Corp.
May 2011. Units 3 and 4 are expected
to be commissioned in mid-2015 and
early 2017, respectively. The general
engineering and design contracts are
in place, and construction has begun
on Unit 3. Feasibility studies are under
way to identify other potential reactors
sites for future construction.
The first two units were supplied and
financed by China, under safeguards.
The plants were designed by Shanghai
Nuclear Engineering Research and Design
Institute (SNERDI), based on its
Qinshan Unit 1 plant. The Unit 2 turnkey
contract, between China National
Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) and PAEC, was
signed in May 2004. The prime contractor
was the China Zhongyuan Engineering
Co., part of CNNC. Unit 2, a twin of
Unit 1, is reported to have cost about
$860 million, and about $350 million
was financed by China.
SNERDI announced in March 2009
that the company had received the contract
for $2.37 billion for the construction
of Units 3 and 4. Those two future
units are each rated at 340 MW. The
contract was signed in June 2010 and
has an eight-year deadline for comple28
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tion.
Unit 3 officially began construction
in May 2011. Pakistan imports
the enriched fuel for its reactors from
China.
A Growing Program
PAEC has since identified six new sites
for constructing new nuclear power
plants as the next step in its pursuit of
8,800 MW by 2030.
One major challenge for Pakistan to
achieve that goal is the size of the
plants that China can export. Today,
China only has the 300-MW-class reactors
that can be exported. Other reactors
under construction in China are
based on technology from countries
that do not allow export to Pakistan.
Should China complete development
of its CNP-1000 reactor, of indigenous
design and supply, Pakistan has made
it clear that it would quickly step up
to the larger reactor. Preoccupied with
its own nuclear program, China's efforts
on the CNP-1000 were put on indefinite
hold in 2007. SNERDI is also constructing
CNP-600 reactors in China, another
option that Pakistan may consider in
the future.
POWER | November 2011
http://www.powermag.com
POWER November 2011

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