ISLAMABAD: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Mariano Grossi on Thursday lauded safety measures at Pakistani nuclear power plants as “world-class,” Pakistani state media reported, adding that the IAEA official acknowledged the South Asian country’s capacity to establish new reactors.
Grossi, who was on a two-day visit to Islamabad, said this at a seminar he addressed in the Pakistani capital together with the Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal. The purpose of his visit was to attend bilateral meetings and visit different institutions that make use of nuclear technology in health, agriculture, industry, and power generation.
The IAEA, an intergovernmental body, promotes safe and peaceful nuclear technology internationally. As a collaborative effort with its members and partners, it focuses on advancing the development of nuclear energy while ensuring its security and safety.
“Pakistan’s capacity in establishing new nuclear power plants indicates a promising future for nuclear energy and achieving Sustainable Development Goals,” Grossi was quoted as saying by the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster.
“There is strong political support for new nuclear power plants in Pakistan,” he said, acknowledging Pakistan’s technical and engineering capacity for new nuclear power plants.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Mariano Grossi (center) speaks during a seminar on Climate Change Mitigation in Islamabad on February 16, 2023. (Photo courtesy: Twitter/rafaelmgrossi)
Pakistan is one of the founding members of the IAEA and has longstanding and mutually beneficial collaboration with the global agency since 1957.
Planning Minister Iqbal said Pakistan had a mutually beneficial relationship with the IAEA that included all areas of nuclear technology, according to the report.
He stated that despite of ranking as low as 158th among carbon-emitting countries, Pakistan is among the countries most severely affected by climate change.
“Pakistan has achieved great milestones in nuclear science and technology for the socio-economic uplift of the country in areas such as cancer diagnosis and treatment, development of disease-free and high-yield crop varieties and food preservation,” Iqbal was quoted as saying.
“Nuclear power provides clean and cheap energy and currently contributes to eight percent of Pakistan’s energy mix with six operational nuclear power plants.”
Iqbal said Pakistan had an impeccable nuclear safety and security record and plans to develop more power plants.
For energy-deficient, economically strained countries like Pakistan, nuclear power is sustainable, clean and a green source of energy, and is the best solution to the challenge of climate change, he added.
