The State Council, China's cabinet, has given preliminary approval
to the construction of four new multibillion-dollar nuclear power
generators.
There will be two generators in Sanmen in east China's Zhejiang
Province and another two in Lingdong, south China's Guangdong
Province. Each generator will have a capacity of 1 million
kilowatts.
The last time the government approved a new nuclear power plant was
in 1997.
Many provinces are lobbying the State Council to build more plants
to meet the increasing demand for electricity and to cash in on the
lucrative business. Those interested include coastal provinces such
as Fujian, Jiangsu and Shandong, and Hubei and Hunan provinces and
Chongqing Municipality in the interior.
Under a long-term blueprint, the government hopes to raise the
country's nuclear power generating capacity to four times its
current level by 2020, reaching between 32 million and 40 million
kilowatts. This would help increase the proportion of nuclear power
to between 4 and 5 percent of all electricity generated from the
current 1.3 percent.
Kang Rixin -- deputy general manager of the China National Nuclear
Corp, China's largest constructor of nuclear plants -- said: "The
strained power supply has provided the nuclear power industry with
unprecedented opportunities for development."
Sixteen provinces and autonomous regions have suffered frequent
blackouts this summer due to surges in consumption. To alleviate
the strain on power grids, some local governments have even urged
residents to raise the temperature setting of their
air-conditioners to save electricity.
Kang said energy-hungry coastal regions lack coal, oil and gas to
feed economic development, making locally built nuclear power
desirable. The strict environmental policies in these economically
booming regions also gives the upper hand to nuclear power, which
is clean, reliable and economically feasible, he said.
According to Kang, the two generators in Lingdong will be close to
four existing 1 million-kilowatt generators in Ling'ao and Dayawan.
The Sanmen generators will be in Zhejiang, the same province as
from Qinshan, where four nuclear power generators are already in
operation and one is under construction.
The government is still studying the details of the projects.
But Kang said the government hopes construction can start before
2005 and that the generators can begin operations by the end of
2010.
To
ensure that nuclear plants will be competitive, the government
requires that investment be limited to no more than US$1,500 per
kilowatt, compared with US$2,000 per kilowatt at the Dayawan plant
-- China's first foreign-funded nuclear plant.
The government expects the new generators to be able to compete
with local coal-fired power plants to sell electricity.
Nuclear plants are currently under government protection and free
from competition. The price charged for nuclear power is much
higher than that for energy produced by coal-fired plants because
the government wants to help nuclear plants recoup the huge amount
of investment.
Eight nuclear power generators already operate in China. Three more
generators are under construction.
Kang said the government will require those in charge of the new
generators to "mainly rely on our own strength, while seek foreign
cooperation at the same time.
"Only by depending on ourselves can we acquire key technology and
gain leverage in bargaining with foreign countries."
Yang Qi -- director of the China Nuclear Power Research Institute,
one of the three nuclear power research institutes in the nation --
urged the government to put more trust in Chinese designs.
He
also said it is imperative that China hammer out a long-term
development plan for the nuclear industry.
(China Daily August 8, 2003)
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