News

June 23, 2008

Pakistan Plans To Launch Two More New Nuclear Power Projects At Chashma

By TC Malhotra in New Delhi

American presidential hopeful John McCain is urging the construction of 45 new nuclear power stations in his home country, to combat rising oil costs and to help the US become more self sufficient. But one wonders how happy he is that Pakistan also has plans for new nuclear power stations. This is a country which his rival for the presidency, Barack Obama, once threatened to bomb, and although Mr Obama was outrageously, if entertainingly quoted out of context when he said that, the furore that followed is indicative of how sensitive a subject this is.

Pakistan has decided to launch its two new nuclear power projects at Chashma, already a centre of nuclear power, with the aim of generating an additional 640 MW power to induct into the national grid. It may cost as much as Pakistan Rs 129.374 billion (US$2.08 billion) to generate the additional 640 MW, but the expectation is that the Pakistan federal government would arrange Rs 80.36 (US$1.29 billion) from international donors' institutions and countries to finance the projects.

These new...