Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 21 2021

AsiaElec NUCLEAR AsiaElec

Pakistan opens Chinese-built

Hualong One reactor

PAKISTAN PAKISTAN has inaugurated the Chinese-built scheduled to begin operation by the year 2022.
second reactor at the Karachi Nuclear Power The reactor is the first Hualong One reactor
Plant, known as K-2, the first Hualong One reac- to be built outside China. Hualong One is one
tor to be built outside China. of the third-generation nuclear power designs.
The 1,100-MW reactor is the sixth in Paki- The reactor’s double-layer containment shell can
stan and will help meet the country’s growing withstand the impact of large aircraft, CNNC
energy needs. said.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said Hualong One was developed by CGN and
at the virtual opening that nuclear power was CNNC using the French-derived ACPR1000
needed to combat the effects of climate change and ACP1000 designs.
in the country. K-2 is slated to generate nearly 10mn MWh
“This is important for us, because Pakistan is per year, meeting the annual electricity needs
among the top 10 countries at risk due to climate of 1mn people. It will help reduce standard coal
change,” he said. consumption by 3.12mn tonnes per year (tpy).
“Unfortunately, we have not focused on pro- K-2 was constructed under a contract signed
ducing energy from water, despite the country between CNNC and the Pakistan Atomic Energy
having potential to do so,” the premier said. Commission in 2013, and Shanghai Electric par-
The prime minister also said that the country ticipated as the main equipment supplier to pro-
would not pursue any more coal-based power vide essential core components such as reactor
projects, as their construction would come at a internals and steam turbine generator sets.
large environmental cost. “The project will help to train manpower and
However, with the rising energy shortage, facilitate technology transfer from China. 40,000
large-scale construction of new power plants, experts visited the country over an extended
most of which are coal-fired, have boosted the period of time. This is another area of co-opera-
country’s energy capacity. tion with China,” said Prime Minister Khan.
The reactor was connected to the national “We are confident that China will stand with
grid in March. us during difficult times. It is fortunate for us that
China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) has Pakistan has strong ties with an emerging power
designed the K-2 nuclear power plant (NPP). and a developed country such as China. “™
Its construction started in 2015 and the NPP is

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