Fuel loading begins at KANUPP-2, announces PAEC  

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) has announced that fuel loading at 1100-megawatt power project of Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP)-2 has begun on Tuesday, ARY NEWS reported. 

A spokesman for the PAEC said that the atomic power project constructed near Karachi sea was loaded with fuel today after approval from Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority.

Director General Strategic Plans Division (SPD) Lieutenant General Nadeem Zaki Manj, Chairman PAEC Muhammad Naeem, member power committee of the PAEC and top officials of China was also present on the occasion.

The PAEC spokesman said that the KANUPP-2 is a pressurized water reactor, based on China’s HPR-1 technology of the third generation atomic power plant.

He said that it is equipped with automatic protection systems. “Its construction began in August 2015 and after an operational examination, it will begin producing power from April 2021,” the spokesman said.       

A similar nuclear power plant in Karachi, known as KANUPP-3 would start producing electricity at the end of 2021. He said that despite COVID-19 pandemic, the plants are in the final stages of completion.

It is pertinent to mention here that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in March 2017 approved Pakistan’s request for the application of Safeguards for nuclear power plant units K-2 and K-3 in Karachi.

These power plants will serve as an important vehicle to help meet Pakistan’s increasing energy needs and support sustained economic growth and industrial development.

Pakistan has the rare distinction of keeping all its civilian nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards signifying its commitment to global objectives of non-proliferation.