Saturday, December 31 2005 10:17 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Pakistan yesterday (Dec 30, 2005) said it plans to generate 8,800 mw of nuclear power by 2030 and maintained that its nuclear programme was for peaceful purposes.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told a meeting of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission here that his Government is focusing on generating more nuclear energy and plans were afoot to produce 8,800 mw of nuclear power in the next 25 years which would be eight per cent of the total electricity production by the year 2030.

Without making any direct reference to the recent Indo-US deal on the civilian nuclear energy, Aziz said Pakistan for its part is working with China to explore new avenues of cooperation for peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

China has built two nuclear power plants at Chashma in Punjab and Pakistan has one power plant built with Canadian cooperation, up and running in Karachi.

Aziz said Pakistan's nuclear programme was for peaceful purposes. "We have established an effective command and control authority to ensure the safety and security of our strategic assets. Our nuclear power plants are under IAEA safeguards internationally and our track record of compliance has been excellent," he said.

Reports here said Pakistan has been urging Washington to extend civilian nuclear deal offered by US to India for Islamabad too so that it could also establish a chain of nuclear power plants to increase its energy.

The Government was looking for power generation from all possible sources, which included enhancing exploitation of hydropower, energy generation through the use of gas and furnace oil, alternate energy resources and increased emphasis on nuclear energy resources, Aziz said.