ISLAMABAD, Nov 28: Pakistan is ready to get nuclear power plants from any country that can cooperate with it under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards, an official said here on Thursday.

“We are willing to collaborate with any country on nuclear energy that can do so under the IAEA safeguards,” Strategic Plans Division (SPD) Director General for Arms Control and Disarmament Affairs retired Air Cdre Khalid Binauri said.

He was speaking at a conference on ‘Energy crisis and nuclear safety and security’ held by the German foundation Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and a local think tank, Strategic Vision Institute, that looked into the various dimensions of the crises and options for addressing it and deliberated on nuclear energy as an alternative to traditional sources.

Air Cdre Binauri said access to cheap energy was vital for sustaining growth and development in the country.

The prime minister performed this week the ground-breaking of the country’s largest nuclear power plant near Karachi, which is expected to be commissioned by 2019 and have a generation capacity of 2,200MW.

The government aims to set up six more plants to produce 40,000MW from nuclear sources by 2050.

The target appears ambitious because of the government’s precarious financial condition and international restrictions on nuclear trade with non-NPT members.

ACP1000 reactors are being purchased from China for the Karachi coastal power project at $9.6 billion. The reactors are an upgraded version of the 900MW French M3-10 reactors.

Air Cdre Binauri lashed out at the discriminatory policies of nuclear cartels like the Nuclear Suppliers Group that gave India exception for international collaboration on civilian nuclear energy but was not giving the same concession to Pakistan.

He said the NSG should pursue a criteria-based process instead of granting country-specific exemptions. This, he warned, would not only undermine the non-proliferation regime, but also affect the strategic balance in the region. He was upbeat about the future of Pakistan’s nuclear energy programme. He said the Chashma III and IV projects were likely to be completed before the planned 2016 within the estimated cost.

SAFETY CONCERNS: He rejected concerns expressed about the safety and security of Pakistan’s nuclear facilities and said the country had the expertise to handle them securely. Other speakers said Pakistan had updated its safety protocols in the light of the findings of the Fukushima incident in Japan.

A major emergency exercise is commencing at Chashma power plant on Friday to analyse and update the response plan in the eventuality of any incident.

The Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority’s Safety Director Mohammad Rahman said it was revising its regulations and reassessment of all nuclear power plants had been ordered. Other steps like mandatory ‘robust containment’ for encapsulating primary systems and preventing radiation release, installation of back-up generators, construction of retaining walls around back-up generators and introduction of ‘re-combiners’ for preventing hydrogen accumulation have been taken. Spent nuclear fuel is currently kept at the site, but plans are afoot for developing a waste depository.