Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) has sought the National Pow­er Regulatory Authority’s approval for the grant of Generation Licence for its proposed 1200 MW Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Unit-5 (C-5).

The PAEC has sub­mitted an application with Nepra for grant of Generation Licence for its proposed Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Units-S- (C-S).

The Authority has considered the matter and decided to treat it as an application for concurrence pursuant to Section 14B(S) of NE­PRA Act, said Nepra.

The Authority has registered the applica­tion and decided to seek comments of stakehold­ers, interested / affect­ed persons and the gen­eral public in favour / or against grant of concur­rence to PAEC for C-5. Nepra has asked the stakeholders to sub­mit their comments to the office of Registrar Nepra within a period of 15 working days. In June 2023, China and Paki­stan had signed a Mem­orandum of Understand­ing (MoU) for a 1,200 MW Chashma-5 (C-5) nuclear power proj­ect worth $3.48 billion. The estimated comple­tion time of the proj­ect is 2029. The proj­ect will have one unit and its generation ca­pacity will be 1117 MW. The ground-breaking ceremony for the 1200 MW was performed by former Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in July this year. The project is located at Mianwali, Pun­jab. The Chashma Nucle­ar Power Generation Sys­tem (CNPGS) hosts four nuclear power plants. CN­PGS Unit 1 (C-1) and Unit-2 (C-2) have a gross capac­ity of 325 MW each. C-1 started operation in 2000, while C-2 in 2011. CNPGS Unit 3 (C-3) and Unit-4 (C-4) both with gross capaci­ty of 340 MW each started commercial operation in 2016 & 2017, respectively.