China plans fifth nuclear reactor for Pakistan: report

Beijing aims to become a significant player in the nuclear industry.

LONDON: China plans to supply Pakistan with a fifth nuclear energy reactor, The Financial Times reported on Monday.  The supply of a fifth nuclear reactor to Pakistan comes after Beijing’s confirmation this year to build two 650MW nuclear energy reactors at Chashma, Punjab.

China has already built one nuclear energy reactor at Chashma and is expected to complete a second at the same site next year. “We have an ongoing programme of co-operation for the peaceful use of nuclear energy with China,” said Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar. The new deals also reflect Chinese commercial ambitions to become a significant player in the nuclear industry.

A Chinese official said in September that there have been discussions between the two countries about building a 1-gigawatt (GW) plant in Pakistan, in addition to the two 300-megawatt (MW) plants that Chinese companies are expected to build at Chashma. Mark Hibbs, an expert on the nuclear industry at the Carnegie Endowment think-tank in Washington, said China could export smaller 300W reactors using technology that it controls. However, if it wanted to sell to Pakistan it would need the consent of western companies that have licensed Beijing to use key technologies, giving those companies leverage, he said.

Although China has been talking publicly for the past two months about its intention to build at least two more reactors in Pakistan, Chinese officials have not yet specified how they intend to get around the rules that bar the sale of nuclear technology to countries such as Pakistan that have not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. One option would be to argue that the initial agreement with Pakistan was signed in 2003, before China joined the body that regulates nuclear commerce, he added.

Washington’s relationship with New Delhi was cemented with an agreement in 2008 to supply civil nuclear reactors, even though India has yet to ratify some of the international safeguards to prevent proliferation. However, US refused a similar civil nuclear agreement with Pakistan, citing concern over Islamabad’s past links to sharing nuclear expertise and technology with Iran, Libya and, possibly, North Korea.

Analysts said Obama is unlikely to criticise China’s supply of nuclear reactors to Pakistan publicly because Washington is probably sensitive to Islamabad’s desire for civil nuclear co-operation after the US-India civil nuclear deal.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 9^th, 2010.