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China, Pak sign pact to build second nuclear plant
K J M Varma in Islamabad |
May 04, 2004 23:07 IST
Undeterred by the car bomb attack that killed three Chinese engineers working on a multi-million-dollar seaport project in Pakistan, Beijing on Tuesday signed an agreement with Islamabad to construct a second nuclear power plant at Chashma in Punjab province.
Chairman of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Pervez Butt and Vice Minister of Science Technology and Industry for national defence of China Zhang Huazhu signed the pact to build the 300MW nuclear power plant in the presence of Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali.
The deal, which came a day after three persons died in a car bomb attack on a bus carrying Chinese engineers, was apparently aimed at expressing the two countries' determination to continue their cooperation.
The new plant is expected to be completed by 2011. Media reports said the power plant is estimated to cost around Rs 55billion of which China has agreed to extend Rs 30billion assistance while the remaining was to be generated locally.
Officials said the design and manufacture of various components of the new plant would be reflective of the latest codes and standards.
The agreement was initially scheduled to be signed during President Gen Pervez Musharraf's visit to China in October 2003 but was stalled following objections by an American multinational company, which was assisting China build its power plants.