Unit 2 of Pakistan’s Karachi NPP, a 1100 MWe Hualong One pressurised water reactor supplied by China National Nuclear corporation (CNNC), has been formally handed over to Pakistan some three years after it began operation in 2021. Representatives from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Karachi K-2/K-3 Nuclear Power Plant and China Zhongyuan attended the ceremony. China Zhongyuan Engineering Corporation is CNNC’s general contractor for Karachi 2&3.
Karachi 2&3 are China’s first Hualong One exports. Construction of unit 2 began in 2015 and unit 3 in 2016. Both units were supplied and constructed by CNNC under a $9bn contract signed with PAEC in 2013. Karachi 2 was connected to the grid in 2021 and unit 3 began commercial operation in April 2022. Karachi 1 – a small Canadian pressurised heavy water reactor shut down in 2021 after 50 years of operation. Construction of a third Hualong One as unit 5 of the Chashma NPP began in July The plant is expected to be completed in 7-8 years. The Chashma site at Mianwali in Punjab hosts four operating Chinese-supplied CNP-300 pressurised water reactors.
In the three years since Karachi 2 began operation, CNNC’s Zhongyuan Operations & Maintenance subsidiary has assisted with acceptance items and equipment warranty documents during the guarantee period. Since the start of the K-2 unit final acceptance preparations in April 2023, Zhongyuan says it has successfully closed more than 99.9% of the main contract guarantee mission projects and promoted the improvement of the operational stability of multiple key equipment. A special acceptance promotion working group was set up in February 2024 and conducted dozens of technical seminars with the Pakistani operators in March and April. A final acceptance meeting was held on 9 May in preparation for the handover.
