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Despite Pakistan’s instability, China to build nuclear reactors there

China to build two nuclear reactors in Pakistan: Report, Hindustan Times, Press Trust Of India Beijing, April 29, 2010 China on Thursday acknowledged that it will build two new nuclear reactors in Pakistan in a deal that could re-ignite concerns about proliferation and safety of atomic materials in Pakistan.

After comments made by China National Nuclear Cooperation (CNNC) that it will build at least two 650 MW reactors at Chashma (near Rawalpindi) in Pakistan, a foreign ministry spokesman said the two countries were cooperating in the field of nuclear energy……

The paper said the decision to supply reactors to Pakistan, which has a nuclear arsenal and a record of dealing with states such as North Korea, Libya and Iran, reflects Beijing’s growing diplomatic confidence.

“It also reflects Beijing’s ambition to become a global supplier of nuclear energy and underscores its views of Pakistan as a prized South Asian strategic partner.”….

Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute said it had been hired to design the two reactors.

The Financial Times quoting Western diplomats in Islamabad said that US was likely to accept China’s growing role as a supplier of nuclear power to Pakistan.

The confirmation of Chinese assistance in building two more reactors in Pakistan comes even as the country’s President Hu Jintao recently told a nuclear summit in Washington that Beijing formally opposes nuclear weapon’s proliferation, while backing its civilian uses. China to build two nuclear reactors in Pakistan: Report- Hindustan Times

May 1, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons, radioactive