Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Friday launched construction of a 1,200 megawatt Chinese-designed nuclear power project at a cost of $3.5 billion as part of the government’s efforts to generate more clean energy in the Islamic country. will go
The groundbreaking ceremony for the project comes less than a month after Pakistan signed an agreement with China’s National Nuclear Corporation Overseas in the capital Islamabad to build the Hualong One reactor, a third-generation reactor. is a nuclear reactor and is therefore considered safer. Latest security features.
Pakistan and China are long time allies. Pakistan’s relations with Beijing are so close that its leadership calls China its “iron brother”. China is also building roads, bridges, power plants and railways to connect its far west with the Chinese-built port of Gwadar in the Indian Ocean.
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The nuclear power plant, known as Chashma 5, will be constructed at a site along the left bank of the Indus River in the Mianwali district of East Punjab. The site is already home to four Chinese-supplied nuclear power plants that were built in recent decades.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, center, unveils a plaque during the groundbreaking ceremony of the 5th unit of the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant in Chashma, Mianwali, Pakistan, July 14, 2023. (Press Information Department via AP)
In his televised remarks to a gathering of Pakistani and Chinese officials in Mianwali, Sharif said the Chashma 5 nuclear power project itself was a “huge milestone, a huge success story, and a wonderful example of cooperation between two great friends.” is a symbol.”
He said that the completion of this project will provide clean, efficient and affordable energy to Pakistan.
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Pakistan got its first nuclear power plant from Canada and currently only 8% of its electricity is generated from nuclear power plants. It plans to increase that number to 20 percent by 2030.
In recent months, China loaned Pakistan $5 billion to help it secure a bailout from the International Monetary Fund to deal with a severe economic crisis. The IMF approved a $3 billion bailout on Wednesday, putting it on hold since December.
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On Friday, Sharif said his country would never forget the Chinese bailout that was given to his country when it was threatened with default. He said it was “a very valuable contribution in a very difficult time, and the nation will never forget it.”
Sharif, whose term as prime minister ends in August, said Pakistan was no longer at risk of default.
Source by [Fox News]
