China to build 10 more mega nuclear rectors

China to build 10 more mega nuclear rectors

Beijing: China will construct 10 more mega nuclear reactors with a whopping investment of USD 121.5 billion, in addition to 25 currently being built, to step up its atomic power generation to meet its rising energy demands. China is expected to raise its 2020 target for the nuclear power industry to 86 GW or 5 percent of its power generation with an annual investment of 70 billion Yuan (USD 10.6 billion), state run China Daily reported today. To reach the capacity China will build 10 more nuclear power projects during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), Zhang Guobao, former director of the National Energy Administration said. China, the world's second-largest economy, aims to get 15 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020. In line with the country's move to accelerate the development of the industry, China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC), plans to invest 800 billion Yuan (USD 121.5 billion) in nuclear projects by 2020. The investments have created a huge market for nuclear equipment, the value of which is estimated at 500 billion yuan. That equipment forms the largest part of investment in nuclear power stations, accounting for 50 to 60 percent of the total. Officials say China is planning a massive push into nuclear power in an effort to wean itself off coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel which was seen as a major obstacle for meeting emission reduction goals. China now has 12 working reactors with 10.15 GW which roughly accounts to about 2.2 percent of the total power production largely relied on coal and hydel projects. According to official media reports 25 nuclear power plants were under construction. Nuclear power will have to account for five percent of power generation by then Xiao Xinjian, a researcher at China's Energy Research Institute said. The massive expansion of the nuclear power plants, which perhaps also coincides with India’s plans to expand in a big way, was expected to create a massive demand for uranium resources round the world. According to the World Nuclear Association the demand uranium in China is expected to reach 20,000 tons annually by 2020, where as the country will be able to produce only 2,400 tons of uranium that year. Chinese nuclear scientists recently claimed a breakthrough in spent fuel reprocessing technology which could solve China's uranium problem for the next 3000 years. But independent scientists in China argued that commercial application of nuclear fuel reprocessing has always been hindered by cost, technology and proliferation risk and safety challenges. China which is embarking on a massive expansion of its nuclear programme needed to import 60 per cent of its uranium requirements till 2020, they argued. "China has invested heavily in uranium exploration know-how and recycling technology to meet the nation's burgeoning needs and increase the ratio of nuclear energy in the total energy consumption mix," Lin Boqiang, director of the China Centre for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University said recently. "Such technology, including the recycling of spent nuclear fuel, is still at a very early stage." If it can be put into practical use, then China can be self-sufficient, he said Chinese officials also say that much of China still requires to import much of the nuclear technology for the expansion phase. There are concerns that China's equipment manufacturing industry is lagging behind the fast-developing nuclear power industry, the China Daily reported. The localisation rate stands at 50 percent for nuclear power equipment installed in China, which means half of the country's nuclear equipment is provided by foreign manufacturers. The localisation rate of equipment using second-generation technology is 80 percent while that of the third generation is only 30 percent, said Xiao of Energy Research Institute said. China's 11 nuclear power units at present use second-generation technology and plans to focus on developing reactors based on Westinghouse Electric Co's third-generation AP1000 design, instead of second-generation technology, a recently released official summary said. "The equipment manufacturing industry will have to catch up if China is to realise its target of 86 GW of nuclear power," Xiao said. To enhance its competitiveness, CNNC started building a Nuclear Technology Park in Beijing, which will be the largest research and development centre for the country's nuclear power industry. Also China Institute of Atomic Energy, the cradle of Chinese nuclear science, plans to step up research efforts to narrow the gap between China and developed nations in nuclear science, the Daily reported.Punjab Kesari