CHASNUPP-1 is situated at Chashma site in the northwestern region of the Thal Doab in the Punjab Province. The site is located in the south of Mianwali, near the Chashma Barrage, and on the left bank of the Indus River. PAEC owns the plant and has the overall responsibility to ensure that it is designed, constructed, and operated without undue risk to the health and safety of the public.
The CHASNUPP-1 is a single-unit. The unit is of 300 MWe and includes a two loop pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear steam supply system (NSSS) furnished by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). The nuclear island and conventional island of the plant utilizes proven design, similar to that of the Qingshan Nuclear Power Plant (QNPP) in China. The systems and the major equipment of the nuclear island, including the NSSS, are designed by Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute (SNERDI), and the system of the conventional island are designed by East China Electric Power Design Institute (ECEPDI).
Construction of plant started in 1993 and was made operational in year 2000. Since then it has gone three fuel changes. By third quarter of 2005 it has produced 9074 Giga Watt-hour of electricity. Its average capacity and availability factor for year 2004-05 were
93 % and 96.4 % respectively.
The major mile stones for CHASNUPP-1 are given in table below:

Milestones Date

Signing of the contract 31 December 1991
Validation of contract 25 February 1992
Preliminary Safety Analysis report (PSAR) 25 December 1992
Construction Permit 3 July 1993
First Concrete Pour of Nuclear Island 1 August 1993
Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) 1 March 1998
Hydro-test of Reactor Coolant System 28 August 1998
Fuel Loading Authorization 25 October 1999
First criticality 03 May 2000
Grid connection 13 June 2000
Full Power Commercial operation 25 September 2000
RFO-1 30 September 2002-18 January 2003
RFO-2 16 April 2004- July 2004
RFO-3 30 September 2005-15 November 2005