Pakistan Reader# 730, 23 March 2024
Dhriti Mukherjee
In Focus
On 22 March, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar called for “aggressive financing” of nuclear projects in the face of the climate vulnerability of developing countries. He issued this call on the sidelines of the first Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels, an event he regarded as a positive step for discussing alternative energy for countries vulnerable to climate change. He said that “different ideas” had been put forth at the summit, and Pakistan “supported” the idea of nuclear energy. Dar highlighted that Pakistan had a nuclear energy capacity of over 3.500 megawatts and was building a nuclear power plant with China’s cooperation. He hailed nuclear as the “safest option” which is “cost-effective” and something which “the world currently needs,” and “strongly urged multilateral lenders to consider aggressive financing so that developing countries can also make use of nuclear energy.” Dar met with Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing and as per a statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Office, they agreed “on the importance of the longstanding cooperation between Pakistan and China in civil nuclear technology.”
In the Nuclear Security Index 2023, wherein the security of nuclear material globally is ranked, Pakistan’s status was updraged due to improvements in the security of material and controls. It ranked 19 on a list of 22 states, performing better than India, Iran, and North Korea in terms of handling of hazardous material. As per an opinion in The Express Tribune, Pakistan’s nucelar power plants, including the Karachi Nuclear Power Plants (having the capacity of 1100MW each), the Chasma-1 (325MW), the Chasma-2 (325MW), the Chasma-3 (350MW), and the Chasma-4 (350MW), have been “producing safer, reliable, and cheaper electricity.” They have also contributed to Pakistan’s “fragile economy by saving billions of US dollars compared to other sources for energy production.” In 2023, as per the editorial, nuclear energy became Pakistan’s top source of power generation for the first time, generating 27.15 per cent at PKR 1.073/unit. Accord to the Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, Pakistan has a world-class nuclear safety record, and the technical and engineering capacity for new nuclear power plants. (“FM Dar urges ‘aggressive financing’ for nuclear energy projects,” Dawn, 22 March 2024; Malik Asad, “Pakistan’s nuclear security ranking upgraded,” Dawn, 20 July 2023; “IAEA chief sees promising prospects for nuclear energy in Pakistan,” Dawn, 17 February 2023; Dr Zafar Khan, “Nuclear power plants: saviours of Pakistan’s economy and energy,” The Express Tribune, 13 February 2023)
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