Posted on 09/20/2010 10:00:37 PM PDT by nickcarraway
China's main nuclear energy corporation is in talks to build a 1-gigawatt atomic power plant in Pakistan, an executive said on Monday, a move that could intensify international unease about their nuclear embrace.
China has already helped Pakistan build its main nuclear power facility at Chashma in Punjab province, where one reactor is running and another near finished, and it has contracts to build two more there, despite the qualms of other governments.
Qiu Jiangang, vice president of the China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC), told a meeting in Beijing that the company was already looking beyond those deals to an even bigger plant. "Both sides are in discussions over the CNNC exporting a one-gigawatt nuclear plant to Pakistan," he said.
Qiu confirmed the two countries had signed contracts to build the No 3 and No 4 reactors of about 300 megawatts each at Chashma. He did not give details about who was involved in discussions for the bigger plant and how far talks had progressed.
The proposed expansion of China's nuclear power ties with Pakistan is likely to magnify unease in Washington, Delhi and other capitals worried about Pakistan's role regional security and nuclear proliferation. Pakistan is a long-standing partner of China, and has been suffering chronic power shortages.
Beijing is wary of Indian regional dominance and US influence. In 2008. Washington signed a nuclear energy deal with India that China and other countries questioned but ultimately let through. Critics have alleged that the deal led to the Islamabad-Beijing nuclear embrace as a response.
this oughta go well with the environazis... no seriously. they only raise hell when it’s us.
Note that Three Mile Island is 873 MW , which is just one of the two units operational. I don’t know how TMI ranks among nuclear power plants however.
Most nuclear power units are around 1000 megawatts - also know as a gigawatt. So this “Mega” project is equal to only one normal sized nuclear unit in the U.S.
[China to Build Mega Nuclear-plant for Pak]
Shouldn’t that be Pok?
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