SHANGHAI: China has finished building the outer safety dome at its first overseas “Hualong One” nuclear reactor in Pakistan, with the project scheduled to be finished by the end of 2020, the China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) said late Tuesday.
China is hoping to use its third-generation Hualong One design to boost its presence in the overseas nuclear power sector and it is already making plans to build projects in Argentina and Britain.
CNNC described the completion of the double-layered steel dome on the containment building of the Karachi 2 nuclear power plant in Pakistan as a milestone that would help demonstrate China’s Hualong One technology worldwide. The firm is building two Hualong One units at the site.
China developed the Hualong One reactor as a rival to the Westinghouse-developed AP1000 and Europe’s “Evolutionary Pressurised Reactor,” with both models beset by cost overruns and construction delays.
The world’s first Hualong One reactor is set to go into operation ahead of schedule in the southeast Chinese province of Fujian late next year.
CNNC said its four demonstration projects in China and Pakistan are progressing in an orderly manner, noting that they “are the only third-generation pressurised water reactor projects in the world that are being constructed on schedule.”
China completes outer dome on overseas Hualong One reactor in Pakistan
China completes outer dome on overseas Hualong One reactor in Pakistan
- World's first Hualong One reactor is set to go into operation ahead of schedule
- China is hoping to use its third-generation Hualong One design to boost its presence overseas
Pakistan announces compensation for Islamabad mosque blast that killed over 30
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visits Islamabad mosque, meets family members of victims who were killed in blast
- Sharif announces compensation of $18,000 for relatives of those killed in attack, $10,800 for those seriously injured
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday announced compensation for the victims of a suicide attack earlier this month that targeted a mosque in Islamabad, vowing that sacrifices of those who gave their lives would not go in vain.
At least 32 people were killed and over 150 others sustained injuries in a suicide blast last Friday that targeted Imam Bargah Qasr-e-Khadijatul Kubra mosque in the Tarlai Kallan area located on Islamabad’s outskirts.
The blast occurred during Friday prayers at the packed mosque, with Daesh saying one of its militants had targeted the congregation by detonating an explosive vest.
Sharif visited the mosque with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and other officials on Wednesday. He met relatives of the blast and offered prayers for them.
“Rs5 million [$18,000] will be given to the families of each martyr, Rs3 million [$10,800] to those seriously injured, and Rs1 million [$3,600] to others who suffered minor injuries,” a statement from Sharif’s office said.
Sharif also announced Rs10 million [$36,800] for the family of Aun Abbas, who had resisted the suicide bomber. He later visited Abbas’ residence and offered prayers for his soul and met his family.
“The entire nation, including myself, is deeply grieved over the heinous, despicable, and extremely deplorable act of terrorism on Feb. 6,” the Pakistani prime minister said.
During his visit to the mosque, the prime minister was briefed about the attack by police and district administration authorities who accompanied him.
Friday’s mosque blast was the deadliest in Islamabad since a 2008 suicide bombing at the Marriott Hotel that killed 63 people and wounded more than 250. In November last year, a suicide bomber struck outside a court in the capital, killing 12 people.
Tallal Chaudry, Pakistan’s state minister for interior, blamed the Islamabad mosque attack on militants that he said were “sponsored by India and supported by Afghanistan.”
Both countries have always denied Islamabad’s accusations of supporting militant groups who carry out attacks in Pakistan.
