By Rina Saeed Khan - guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 April 2011 08.00 BSTPakistan's reactors provide only a tiny amount of energy at great health risk to millions, yet the government wants to build more
Shrouded in secrecy and jealously guarded by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, there is little public debate about Pakistan's nuclear safety record in the wake of what is happening at Fukushima.
There are two main reactors used for energy production in Pakistan: the ageing plant on the coast near Karachi (Kanupp) and the nuclear plant near Chashma Barrage on the Indus River (Chasnupp I). Between them, they provide only about 350 MW of energy, just 2% of Pakistan's energy demand. A second nuclear reactor at Chashma (Chasnupp II) is being tested and should start operations soon. They are extremely costly, at about US $1bn for each of the Chasma reactors, plus they are very unsafe, according to two of the country's top physicists who teach at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.
"Kanupp only produces 50MW while Chasnupp I produces 300MW. Chasnupp II only came on line in March this year and will produce another 300MW as well," says nuclear physicist Dr Pervez Hoodhboy.
Underpowered and unsafe, Pakistan's nuclear reactors are just big boys' toys - Guardian
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