Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Wednesday inaugurated the country's third nuclear power plant, calling it an important step forward in securing "energy security", DPA reported. Known as Chashma Nuclear Power Plant (CHASHNUPP-2), the facility is located some 280 kilometers southwest of Islamabad and is being built with Chinese assistance at the cost of 700 million US dollars under an agreement signed in March, 2003. "The project is a milestone in the history of our nuclear technology and yet another landmark in Pakistan-China friendship," Aziz said at the concrete-pouring ceremony. Pakistani experts are already operating two nuclear power plants, one at the port city of Karachi and another at Chashma, known as CHASHNUPP-1, set up with Canadian and Chinese assistance, and are producing 137 and 300 megawatts of electricity respectively. "Chashma-2 symbolizes the deep interest China has in Pakistan's development," the prime minister said, and added it is a concrete manifestation of the resolve of Pakistani and Chinese peoples to further enrich their traditional and well-established partnership for peace and development. Pakistan, the only country in the Moslem world operating nuclear power plants, plans to produce 8,800 megawatts of nuclear power in the next 25 years. In this connection, Pakistani officials repeatedly asked the United States and other Western countries to cooperate with Islamabad in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. "We need nuclear power, which is a cheap, reliable, and environment friendly source of energy," the prime minister said. The CHASHNUPP-2 is estimated to supply 300 megawatts of electricity to the national grid.