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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| China pledges billions for nuclear power |
| 2005-06-07 |
| China, the world's second-largest energy consumer after the United States, will spend some 400 billion yuan (US$48.33 billion) on building new nuclear power plants by 2020. The energy-hungry country intends to increase the amount of installed nuclear power capacity from the current 16 gigawatts to 40 gigawatts - or 4 per cent of the total installed capacity - within 15 years, Kang Rixin, president of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), said. More than enough to power a dozen flux capacitors. Nuclear power generation is expected to triple to reach 60 gigawatts by that time, or 6 per cent of the country's total electricity output from the current 2.3 per cent, according to Kang. To reach this rather ambitious goal, the country "should build another 30 or so 1-gigawatt (GW) units in China," according to the president of the country's largest nuclear reactor builder. These greenhouse-gas-free power plants will be focused in the populous south and east provinces such as Fujian and Zhejiang, which are short on the hydrocarbons that fuel power plants in the north and west. Nuclear power plant generation has so far reached 13 per cent of the total power generation mix in Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, Kang said. The country currently has 19 reactors in operation, under construction or with the central government's final approval. Two under-construction reactors in Tianwan, Jiangsu Province, which use Russian technology, are expected to go on line by the end of this year and the beginning of next year. said the CNNC president. The company will soon make a final decision over a US$8-billion contract to build four nuclear reactors at Sanmen of Zhejiang Province and in Yangjiang of Guangdong, said Kang. Framatome ANP, a venture between France's Areva SA and Germany's Siemens AG, British Nuclear Fuels Plc's Westinghouse Electric Co and Russia's AtomStroyExport are bidding for the projects. The EU-3 plus Russia. Surprise, surprise. "We are still analyzing the bids and have some issues to clarify including technical levels, technology transfer and pricing, which are quite sensitive," Kang said. "We hope to make a decision as soon as possible." To promote self-reliance in nuclear power technology, CNNC is currently developing a new form of reactor technology, known as CNP 1,000, which will be applied to future projects, Kang said. A design of a prototype for the reactor may be ready by the end of this year, he said. When's the schedule for the first operator error? |
| Posted by:gromky |
| #3 How do you say chernobyl in cantonese? |
| Posted by: anon1 2005-06-07 13:08 |
| #2 Nahhhh. By not using containment, you can build 3 for the price of 2. And the Russian design is a proven one, with a 95% non-explosion record. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-06-07 08:45 |
| #1 Wonder if they're going to use a containment dome. |
| Posted by: Fly Ash Liberation Army 2005-06-07 07:51 |