KANUPP
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A backgrounder
OTHER NAME: Karachi Nuclear Power Plant LOCATION: Approximately 25km west of Karachi, Sindh Province SUBORDINATE TO: Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) SIZE: 125 MWe net FACILITY STATUS: Operational The Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP) is a 137 MWe Canadian Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) that is fueled by natural uranium.
KANUPP was Pakistan's first nuclear power plant. After a May 1965 agreement between Canada and Pakistan, Canadian General Electric began construction of the reactor in September 1965, and the plant went into commercial operation in 1972. Initially, Canada supplied Pakistan with heavy water and natural uranium fuel for KANUPP. Following India's 1974 nuclear test and Pakistan's subsequent refusal to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), Canada halted its supply of heavy water and fuel in 1976. As a result, Pakistan has been indigenously fabricating fuel since 1980.
After KANUPP completed its nominal design life of 30 years in 2002, the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Agency (PNRA) extended its operation to 2012. Throughout the PAEC's numerous safety and operational upgrades for relicensing requirements, KANUPP has operated at 50MW. Pakistan signed a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1969, and the facility currently remains under safeguards.
