KARACHI: Ten nuclear power plants will be established in the country by 2030 to help resolve the worsening electricity crisis, said Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Chairman Dr Ansar Parvez on Tuesday.

He added that the government had assigned to the PAEC a target of generating around 8,800 megawatts by 2030. “We are optimistic about achieving this target within the stipulated period as all the requisite projects and plans are in place for this purpose,” he said.

Dr Parvez expressed these view while speaking as a chief guest at the 11th annual convocation-2011 of the Karachi Institute of Power Engineering in the vicinity of the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant.

He said that the PAEC was striving hard to enhance its role in power generation, while in the area of defence, “we are following a well-defined path that ensures that the country has a strategic capacity which is strong enough to deter and frustrate the evil designs of anyone”. He added that an immense contribution had been made by the graduates of Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) and Karachi Institute of Power Engineering (KINPOE) to the country’s strategic programme.

In addition to the defence and power sectors, the PAEC had also been contributing to the socio-economic sector, he said. It had 14 medical centres in different cities and four more were being built. “Similarly, our agricultural centres and bio-technology institutes are also making a contribution towards the agriculture sector,” he added.

Dr Parvez, who is also the chairman of the board of governors of the PIEAS, later conferred MSc degrees in nuclear power engineering on 49 graduates along with medal and merit certificates to the position holders. He congratulated all graduating students and hoped that they would play their due role in the country’s development.

Earlier, PIEAS Rector Dr Mohammad Aslam said that the degree-awarding institute being run by the PAEC offered masters and PhD programmes in nuclear power engineering, material engineering, health physics and information technology. He said around 10 students were completing their PhD every year from the institute.

KINPOE Director Najmus Saqib traced the genesis of the institute which started as the Karachi Nuclear Power Training Centre in the early 80s and was upgraded to the masters level in 1993. He said this was KINPOE’s first convocation after its affiliation with the PIEAS.—APP/PPI