DHAKA: Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif launched the construction of the country’s biggest atomic power plant and vowed to pursue further projects to make nuclear the largest energy source.

The 2,200-megawatt plant is to be built with Chinese technical assistance on the Arabian Sea coast at Paradise Beach, 40 kilometres west of Karachi.

Pakistan already has three operational nuclear plants generating a total of around 740 MW of power and has begun work on a fourth, in addition to the one launched Tuesday.

The government hopes nuclear will ultimately provide a relatively low-cost solution to the power cuts, known euphemistically as ‘loadshedding’, that blight life in Pakistan, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1930 HRS, NOV 26, 2013