Pakistan considers buying nuclear power plants

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan is considering purchasing nuclear power plants to meet its growing energy shortages, the government said on Friday.

The country is suffering from acute power shortages, and officials say there is a power deficit of up to 4,000 megawatt.

In recent months state-run utilities have switched off power for several hours a day across the country, though the situation improved towards the end of summer, as air conditioners are in less use.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Friday held a meeting with senior officials to discuss the possibility of buying nuclear plants.

Gilani set up a committee of senior officials "to work out the modalities and financial arrangements before a formal decision is made on the purchase of nuclear energy plants," his office said in a statement without giving further details.

Pakistan has two nuclear power plants.

Its first nuclear power plant was set up with Canadian help in 1972 and has a capacity of 137 megawatts.

The second nuclear power plant was built with the help of its long-time ally, China, in 1999 in Chashma, a town in the central Punjab province. It has a generation capacity of 325 megawatts. China is helping Pakistan build a third plant near Chashma.

Pakistan has previously asked the United States for a deal along the lines of one struck between the United States and rival India, that gives access to U.S. know-how and technology to develop civil nuclear energy capacity.