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First inland nuclear power study completed

By Xiao Wan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-02-09 09:45

State Nuclear Power Technology Corp (SNPTC), which is responsible for the development of third-generation nuclear power technology in China, said yesterday it had completed the initial design for the country's first three inland nuclear power stations.

The three projects are at Taohuajiang in Hunan province, Xianning in Hubei province, and Pengze in Jiangxi province. SNPTC said it has finished its preliminary safety analysis report on the Taohuajiang plant.

The three projects will use AP1000, a third-generation technology developed by US-based Westinghouse. Future inland nuclear projects in the country would also use the technology, according to SNPTC.

Preparatory work for China's first batch of inland nuclear power projects is said to be going smoothly. The three projects will meet all requirements for starting construction this year, according to SNPTC Chairman Wang Binghua.

SNPTC signed an agreement with a consortium led by Westinghouse in 2007 under which China will use AP1000 technology to build four coastal nuclear power reactors in Zhejiang and Shandong provinces.

Construction of the three of the four reactors - two in Sanmen in Zhejiang and two in Haiyang in Shandong - started last year. The four reactors are also the world's first to use AP1000 technology. Besides introducing the technology to build the four reactors, SNPTC has also started indigenous development of advanced nuclear power technology. It is now conducting research on the CAP1400 and CAP1700 technologies, which are based on AP1000 technology but with much local improvement, said Zheng Mingguang, president of SNPTC Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research & Design Institute.

The institute, which took charge of designing China's first nuclear power plant, the Qinshan nuclear power project, celebrated its 40th anniversary yesterday.

Nuclear power has seen accelerated development in China in recent years. China now has a total of 11 nuclear reactors in operation, with a combined installed capacity of around 9,000 mW.