BEIJING – Pakistani Ambassador to China Masood Khan, who is also chief negotiator on Nuclear Security Summit (NSS), has said Pakistan successfully carried out stress tests on its civil nuclear power plants immediately after the Fukushima reactor incident.
Pakistan has a long experience of using civil nuclear technology for generating electricity, Masood Khan said in an interview with state-run APP and PTV.
The two-day, second NSS summit is scheduled to start in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, on March 26. This is the second time when Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani will be representing Pakistan at this forum. The first NSS meeting was held in Washington in 2010.
“Prime Minister Gilani’s personal attendance illustrates continuity in Pakistan’s commitment with the NSS process, Pakistan’s commitments to enhance nuclear security in our country, and our support to the international community to work for a common cause”, Khan said.
The Ambassador said: “For the last 37 years we have successfully operated civil nuclear power plants. In 2000, we established a strong National Command Authority to keep close watch on all dimensions of nuclear safety and security.”
Pakistan has the distinction of being the first country in the Muslim world to establish a nuclear plant. On November 28, 1972, then Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto inaugurated the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant.
After the first nuclear summit, Ambassador Khan said, the Pakistani government had taken a number of measures.
He especially mentioned that the Strategic Plans Division, which works directly under the National Command Authority, and said the body established a Training Academy which trains professionals and officials in the areas of physical protection and personnel reliability.
He said the Pakistan Institute of Engineering Sciences (PIES ) is awarding Master’s Degree in Nuclear Security. Other institutions are developing similar programmes.
“Pakistan’s professional nuclear security officials are benefiting from these programmes,” he said, adding that these centres can become regional and international hub for training in nuclear security.
He pointed out that Pakistan is playing an important role at the international level. Last year, he said, Pakistan was Chairman of Board of Governors of IAEA.
He mentioned Pakistan’s active participation in the meetings of the Global Initiative for Combating Nuclear Terrorism.
Khan said Pakistan has a sterling record with regards to nuclear security and safety and has been regularly submitting its report to the UN Security Council Resolution 1540 Committee.