Planning and design phase of the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant began in 1973–75 by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) with its chairman, Munir Ahmad Khan, selecting the Chashma Lake as its potential site. In 1974, Bhutto administration entered in negotiation over the supply of the nuclear power plant with France, presenting the initial design by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, and signed a contract with France's "Commissariat à l'énergie atomique" (CEA) to provide funding of the nuclear power plant and a separate plutonium production facility in Khushab.