Officials from Pakistan and China attended a ceremony marking the official acceptance of unit 3 at the Karachi NPP in Sindh province. Karachi 3, constructed by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), is the second 1100 MWe Hualong One (HPR1000) reactor to be built at the site.
Karachi 2&3 were the first exports of CNNC’s Hualong One pressurised water reactor. Construction of unit 2 began in 2015 and unit 3 in 2016. Karachi 2 achieved first criticality in February 2021 and was connected to the grid the following month. The final acceptance certificate for Karachi 2 was signed in May last year. Unit 3 achieved first criticality in February 2022 and was connected to the grid the following month. It passed preliminary acceptance tests in April 2022 when it began commercial operation. It was formally inaugurated in February 2024.
CNNC says acceptance of both units “verifies the technical maturity and international market adaptability of China’s independent third-generation nuclear power technology Hualong One, and provides a Chinese solution of clean energy that can be promoted for the countries jointly building the Belt and Road”.
According to CNNC, the two Karachi units have so far generated more than 48 TWh of electricity reducing standard coal consumption by 14.976m tonnes and cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 39.168m tonnes a year. The Karachi site also hosts Pakistan’s first nuclear power reactor, Karachi 1 – a small 100 MWe Canadian pressurised heavy water reactor which shut down in 2021 after 50 years of operation.
In August 2023, Pakistan’s Executive Committee of the National Economic Council formally approved a project to build Chashma unit 5, a Hualong One reactor, at Mianwali in Punjab, on a site that is already home to four operating Chinese-supplied CNP-300 pressurised water reactors. First concrete for Chashma 5 was poured in late December 2024
In August 2023, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council of Pakistan approved the project for the construction of a Hualong One reactor at unit 5 at the Chashma NPP in Mianvali in Punjab. First concrete was poured in December 2024. Chashma NPP already hosts four operating Chinese-supplied CNP-300 pressurised water reactors.
