on december 28, 2016, the 340mw chasnupp unit 3 (c-3) was officially inaugurated by prime minister nawaz sharif. as the designer and technical supporter of c-3, shanghai nuclear engineering research & design institute (snerdi) was invited to attend the inauguration ceremony.
mr sharif said that c-3 is the witness of sino-pakistan relationship, and it holds promise for more stable and sustainable development between the two nations. he expected the c-4 unit to be commissioned by april 2017 and pakistan will have four commercially operational nuclear units that could supply about 4.4% of the country’s electricity needs.
c-3, about 200km southwest of the capital islamabad in punjab province, was connected to the grid on 15 october 2016 and its power level has since been gradually increased to 100%. c-3 is a snerdi-designed cnp-300 pressurized water reactor, construction of which began in may 2011.
the chasnupp nuclear station now has three commercially operational cnp-300s. c-1 began commercial operation in september 2000 and c-2 in may 2011. according to data by the international atomic energy agency, pakistan began construction of a fourth cnp-300 unit, c-4, in december 2011.