Nuclear Power: A Viable Option For Electricity Generation

Introduction

PAEC is operating six nuclear power plants in the country with a total capacity of 3,530 MWe.

During the year 2023, the nuclear power plants supplied 22,372 million kWh to NTDC system (17.2 % of the total electricity mix)

PAEC has now attained the capability to perform Refueling Outages (RFOs) independently by increasing the supply of local services and spares to save foreign exchange of the country. Efforts are also underway to minimize the RFO durations

Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP) Unit 1

Pakistan’s first Nuclear Power Plant, KANUPP Unit 1 of 137 MWe, was constructed in the outskirts of Karachi and achieved its first criticality on 1^st August, 1971. After 50-year of successful commercial operation, KANUPP Unit 1 power station was permanently shut-down on August 1, 2021 and is being decommissioned.

Karachi Nuclear Power Project Unit-2 (K-2) & Unit-3 (K-3)

Construction of K-2 and K-3 started in August, 2015 and in May, 2016, respectively. These units are based upon Chinese ACP1000 design, that is a Generation-III version of the PWR nuclear reactor technology. In this design, apart from other features, safety is significantly enhanced by using passive safety systems (no need of human action or input power for operation). K-2 was connected to the national grid on March 23, 2021 and successfully started commercial operation on May 21, 2021. Likewise, first grid connection and commercial operation dates of K-3 are March 4, 2022 and April 18, 2022.

Other Information

PAEC is operating six nuclear power plants at two sites in the country with a total capacity of 3,530 MWe. One unit of 1200 MWe is under construction at Chashma site. One unit, KANUPP, is in decommissioning phase

During the year 2024, the nuclear power plants supplied 22,795 million kWh to NTDC system (18.3 % of the total electricity mix).

In Pakistan, total six Nuclear Power Plants(NPPs) are operational. Among these six, four NPPs(C-1, C-2, C-3 & C-4) of comulative 1,330 MWe capacity are located at the Chashma Nuclear Power Generation Station (CNPGS). Two NPPs (i.e K-2 & K-3) of total 2,200 MWe capacity are operating near KANUPP. K-2 operates commercially since May,2021 and K-3 since April, 2022. This new nuclear power generation station of twin units is termed as Karachi Nuclear Power Generation Station(KNPGS). For the year 2024, the performance of units is shown below.

Chashma Nuclear Power Generating Station (CNPGS)

CNPGS hosts four nuclear power plants. These plants are based on Chinese Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) technology. CNPGS Unit 1 (C-1) and Unit-2 (C-2) have a gross capacity of 325 MWe each. C-1 started operation in 2000, while C-2 in 2011. CNPGS Unit 3 (C-3) and Unit-4 (C-4) both with gross capacity of 340 MWe each started commercial operation in 2016 & 2017, respectively. All four nuclear plants at Chashma are under IAEA safeguards.

Statistics for year 2024

• C-1:
  Capacity: 325 MWe
  Net Generation: 2317.1 GWh
  Capacity Factor: 87.82%
  Availability Factor: 92.83%

• C-2:
  Capacity: 325 MWe
  Net Generation: 2461.1 GWh
  Capacity Factor: 87.82%
  Availability Factor: 92.98%

• C-3:
  Capacity: 340 MWe
  Net Generation: 2210.3 GWh
  Capacity Factor: 80.31%
  Availability Factor: 85.49%

• C-4:
  Capacity: 340 MWe
  Net Generation: 2491.1 GWh
  Capacity Factor: 90.52%
  Availability Factor: 93.80%

Karachi Nuclear Power Generating Station (KNPGS)

Statistics for year 2024

• K-2:
  Capacity: 1100 MWe
  Net Generation: 6136.8 GWh
  Capacity Factor: 68.85%
  Availability Factor: 75.00%

• K-3:
  Capacity: 1100 MWe
  Net Generation: 6755.5 GWh
  Capacity Factor: 75.79%
  Availability Factor: 85.79%

C-5 Groundbreaking

On July 14, 2023, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif of Pakistan performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the 1,200 MWe Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Unit 5 (C-5)

A Snap of the C-5 First Concrete Pouring Date Ceremony (FCD)