More Nuke Power Plants PlannedChina's nuclear power industry has gathered steam during the Ninth Five-Year Plan period (1996-2000), according to China National Nuclear Corporation, the sole State-owned nuclear energy conglomerate.The company has seen its output value increase by 90.6 per cent from 1995 to the end of 2000. During the same period, its imports increased 7.7 times and its exports increased by 37.2 per cent. According to Wang Zhaofu, director of the Economic System Restructuring Office of the company, China's first nuclear power plant, the 300-megawatt Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant in Zhejiang Province, has generated 11.6 billion kilowatt hours of electricity from its commencement of commercial operation in 1994 to the end of 2000, posting a total output value of 3.2 billion yuan (US$387 million). The Dayawan Nuclear Power Plant in Guangdong Province, with a combined capacity of 1.97 million kilowatts, has contributed 83.4 billion kilowatt hours of electricity to Guangdong Province and Hong Kong in its six years of commercial operation. Along with its successful operation of domestic power plants, China is also ranked among the major exporters of nuclear power technology, with the 300-megawatt Chashma Nuclear Power Plant in Pakistan built by China beginning full-power operation last August, Wang said. "To date, we have carried out international co-operation with more than 40 countries and regions, including France, Canada and the United States," Wang said. At present, the company is sparing no effort to reduce dependency on foreign suppliers for its nuclear power plants, Wang added. "We hope to see 75 per cent of our equipment made locally in five years," he said. According to the release, the company will "strive to launch new nuclear power projects in the next five years." The country has started to moderately develop nuclear power. The company has already proposed a CNP1000 plan (China Nuclear Power Plant of 1,000 megawatts), which aims to establish a completely domestically manufactured nuclear plant of 1,000-megawatt capacity before 2005. "The plan has undergone a stringent scrutinization and we believe it is feasible to be launched in the 10th Five-Year Plan period," Wang said. Currently, four nuclear power projects, with a total installed capacity of 6,600 megawatts, are under construction in China. They are the second and third phases of the Qinshan and Ling'ao nuclear power plants in Guangdong Province and the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant in Jiangsu Province. With these plants in commercial operation, China's total installed nuclear power capacity is expected to reach 8.7 million kilowatts by 2005. To help ease the energy bottleneck, China began developing its nuclear power industry in the late 1980s. With a total installed capacity of 2,100 megawatts, the two nuclear power plants -- Qinshan and Dayawan -- produce around 14 billion kilowatt-hours annually, or 1 per cent of the country's total power output, much lower than the 17 per cent average for nuclear as opposed to conventional power for other countries. (www.chinadaily.com.cn) |
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