China to increase nuclear power capacity by 2020

In order to fulfill the promise made at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, the proportion of China’s non-fossil energy should at least 75 million kilowatts in order to achieve the target by 2020, the Energy Research Institute under the National Development and Reform Commission said.

This includes 4% to 6% of energy provided by nuclear power, reports Qatar News Agency on Saturday citing the insitute.

Currently, China’s nuclear power installed capacity is only 9 million kilowatts.

Therefore, China expects to increase the installed capacity as high as seven to eight times in the future, the Chinese newspaper “People’s Daily” reported.

“China’s urgent need for energy conservation and carbon emissions reduction allows nuclear power, which has the advantage of stability, to become an important choice for clean energy in the short term, said Zhang Shuai, a senior analyst from the Sinolink Securities. Continued…

Read more: Asian Energy

Westinghouse works on Chinese AP1000 contracts

Discussions continue for Westinghouse regarding the scope of its involvement in the next wave of AP1000 build in China.

Major contracts were signed last week covering the engineering procurement and construction of two reactors at Xianning, Hubei province but these omitted to mention the US nuclear technology company that originally developed the AP1000 design.

China’s AP1000s will be the biggest standardised fleet in the world

Technology transfer was part of the deal that Westinghouse signed with China National Nuclear Corporation in February 2007 to supply four AP1000s at two sites. This was expected to result in “long term participation” for Westinghouse in the future Chinese domestic market, stakeholder relations manager Adrian Bull told World Nuclear News. However, Chinese statements on the day of the contracts emphasised its move to the next phase in a program to develop self-sufficiency in nuclear technology.

Bull confirmed to WNN that it “continues to engage in discussion” with State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) as well as its subsidiaries and various manufacturers that have “sought assistance” in their efforts to deploy AP1000s en-masse.

One item Westinghouse would be expected to supply to new AP1000s would be nuclear fuel. In addition, it expects its scope in future projects to include engineering services, automation as well as certain components and materials. Consultation, training and support could also come as part of new “full contracts” which should be finalized within the next few months at the same time as construction permits, said Bull.

While two AP1000s are being built at Sanmen and two more at Haiyang, preparations are under way for new pairs at Xianning (Hubei province), Pengze (Jiangxi province), and Taohuajiang (Hunan province). Beyond those, over 50 AP1000s are currently on the books with many more likely in the further future.

Source: World Nuclear News

China Guangdong Nuclear inks MoU with Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission

China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission for cooperation in the nuclear power sector, the company said in a report on its website.

According to the MOU, Guangdong Nuclear will aid Vietnam in nuclear technology transfer in the future, the company said earlier this week, without providing further details.

Vietnam will sign a contract with Russian energy group Rosatom later this year for the construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant–the 2,000-megawatt Ninh Thuan 1 plant, Pham Khanh Toan, head of the Vietnam Institute of Energy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said last month.

The 2,000-MW Tianwan nuclear power station in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, which went into operation in 2007, also used Russian technology.

Source: Automated Trader / Dow Jones

Shaw Group to provide AP1000 support services in China

The Shaw Group has inked an initial contract with China’s State Nuclear Power Technology (SNPTC) unit State Nuclear Power Engineering to provide technical support services for additional AP1000 nuclear power plants in China.

Shaw will begin providing services with the two new AP1000 units at the Xianning nuclear power plant project in Hubei province

The technical support services include engineering and design management, project controls, quality assurance, construction management and project management, as well as health, safety and environmental management.

In April 2009, Shaw had signed a strategic cooperation agreement with SNPTC to support China’s growing nuclear power infrastructure.

China currently has 12 nuclear power plants that generate 10GW of power and plans to construct 30 new reactors by 2020 that will result in the production of at least 40GW of nuclear power.

Shaw, along with its consortium team member Westinghouse, currently has a contract with SNPTC and other Chinese organizations to provide engineering, procurement, commissioning and startup, information management system and project management services for four AP1000 nuclear power plants.

The four AP1000 nuclear power plants are being built in Sanmen, Zhejiang province and in Haiyang, Shandong province.

Source: Energy Business Review

Using nuclear technology to boost crop yield

China is conducting experiments to apply nuclear technology to improve the yield of agricultural produce encouraging farmers to cultivate various varieties of irradiated seeds, which involves exposing them to low doses of gamma rays.

Some of the Chinese farmers have sown the seeds irradiated by Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences (HAAS) and are monitoring the growth of the crop.

“I just want to try it. I hope nuclear technology can help me to raise either the output or quality of crops,” Li Weiguo a farmer in Shuqing Village near Shuangcheng City who had sown the irradiated seeds soybean and corn this summer, expecting new varieties with higher yields.

It is the first time the 33-year-old farmer in China’s Heilongjiang Province has had seeds irradiated with the help of agricultural experts.

The irradiation process involves exposing seeds to low doses of gamma rays from cobalt-60, a radioisotope of cobalt, which causes changes in the seed’s genetic makeup, said Xu Dechun, vice director of the institute.

It usually took experts about five years to screen out seeds for new varieties with stable genetic characteristics, Xu told Xinhua newsagency.

Compared with the widely used cross-breeding method, which largely depended on opportunity and usually took about eight years to get a stable variety, seed irradiation intervention was far more effective in bringing out the desired characteristics of a certain crop, he said.

Xu’s team has developed 28 new soybean breeds, almost 20 wheat varieties and a dozen corn varieties.

More than seven million hectares of farmland in Heilongjiang have grown such crops, which raised yields by more than 50 million kilogrammes.

China is the world’s largest grain producer and consumer. The central and local governments have been supporting the application of nuclear technologies in agricultural development.Huge investments have been made in research programmes across the country and almost every province has established atomic energy institutes, Liang Qu, director of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, said at the third Global Forum of Leaders for Agricultural Science and Technology.

The FAO and IAEA had continuously promoted the application of nuclear technologies in agriculture since 1950, he said. So far, more than 3,000 new varieties have entered mass production worldwide for commercial purposes. In addition to developing new varieties, irradiation is also used to retard spoilage and increase the shelf life of food.

Source: Financial Chronicle

China and IAEA to sign nuclear safety deal

China and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are expected to sign an agreement on nuclear safety, as the UN nuclear watchdog’s chief, Yukiya Amano, visits China.

The two sides will boost cooperation in personnel training and nuclear safety in East Asia and across the world, according to a draft of the agreement.

During his meeting with Amano Monday morning in Beijing, Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang said China attaches great importance to the peaceful use of nuclear energy and nuclear safety.

“China has been enhancing its nuclear safety work and has strictly fulfilled its obligations concerning nuclear non-proliferation while actively participating in international cooperation on nuclear non-proliferation and safety,” Zhang said.

Zhang and Amano, a Japanese diplomat who took over charge of IAEA in December 2009, pledged to promote exchange and cooperation between China and IAEA.

The visit to China is Amano’s first since he became the IAEA’s director general.

Source: Xinhua

Fake iPads flying off the shelves in Beijing

This handout picture taken in Shenzhen on Jan. 29, 2009, and released by Shenzhen Great Loong Brother Industrial Co., shows the company’s iPad-like “P88.” Fake iPads are flying off the shelves for as little as 650 yuan (US$95.67) at Silk Street Market, a tourist hotspot in Beijing. (AFP)

Fake iPads are flying off the shelves for as little as 650 yuan (US$95.67) at Silk Street Market, a tourist hotspot in Beijing.

Sales assistants at dozens of outlets on the fourth floor of the market vied with each other to attract customers and were more than eager to show off the device’s capabilities to anyone showing an interest. They happily described the products as fake but said they were just as good as the real thing.

The fakes have the iconic Apple logo stamped on the back alongside the words “Made in China” and “Designed in China.” They come in boxes labeled iPad that feature a photograph of a genuine iPad screen on the top.

Despite also bearing a stamp advertising that they have 64 gigabytes of memory, several assistants confided the devices only had 1 gigabyte and a memory card would be needed to increase storage and operating capacity.

Genuine iPads sell from US$499 in the United States and are marketed as the best way to experience the web, email, photos and video. They have a 9.7-inch multi-touch screen and can be used to download thousands of applications including book-reading software.

The fakes at the Silk Street Market are slightly smaller and, when switched on, display a logo saying they run on Google’s Android system. A test of the product showed the Internet connectivity and Wi-Fi functions worked very well, music and video could be downloaded and played and photos displayed well. All the fakes had USB ports and memory card sockets. Staff said the batteries lasted two hours before requiring a recharge. They are not capable of downloading applications from the Apple’s iTunes Store.

Staff at the Silk Street Market routinely offered the fakes for sale at 1,500 yuan but quickly reduced the asking price to 700. They were happy to sell as many as prospective customers were willing to buy.

One sales assistant was willing to sell the device for 650 yuan and showed a document that put her cost price at 640 yuan. At every outlet China Daily visited, staff said the fakes were made at a factory in Shenzhen, the same city the genuine articles are made by Foxconn on behalf of Apple.

When quizzed, staff said it would not be advisable to openly carry the device through an airport but should be hidden in the luggage. They said the management at the Silk Market had no problems with the fakes being sold.

China Daily reported in April that the market wanted to drive out counterfeit name-brand goods after it terminated a lease on an area of the emporium that had been used to sell fake designer goods.

Management at the venue, one of the capital’s biggest clothing markets, said they were eager to kill its reputation as the go-to place for cheap imitations of high-end designer goods.

Yang Changjun, a former Silk Street Market vendor, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison at Chaoyang district court for selling counterfeit handbags that looked like famous brands, including Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Chanel.

In addition to ending the lease, the market announced it would be reviewing its leasing regulations and studying the duties of market managers and employees in a bid to discourage the sale of fake goods.

Source: The China Post

Chinese ‘Nuclear City’ to start construction

Plans are advancing for the construction of the first industrial park in China to help with the rapid development of the country’s nuclear power industry, with detailed engineering and construction preparation work at the site in Haiyan, Zhejiang province, expected to start soon.

The coastal city of Haiyan, on the Yangtze Delta, has been selected to house the ‘Nuclear City’. It is some 118 kilometres (70 miles) southwest of Shanghai and close to the cities of Hangzhou, Suzhou and Ningbo. It also lies midway along China’s coast, where several nuclear power plants have been constructed or are planned.

In Zhejiang province itself, there are currently five nuclear power reactors in operation and two under construction at Qinshan. There are also two reactors under construction at the Fangjiashan plant. By 2014, when all nine units should be in operation, electrical generating capacity will total some 6300 MWe.

In addition to the nuclear power plants, the headquarters of 18 leading Chinese nuclear equipment suppliers are currently in Haiyan, as are branch offices of all the major Chinese nuclear design institutes and construction companies.

In March 2010, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) launched its nuclear power base – ‘China Nuclear Power City’ – in Haiyan. In April, the Zhejiang provincial government signed a “strategic energy cooperation agreement” with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation (CGNPC). The conceptual design of the Haiyan Nuclear City has been completed in Beijing. In July, local and provincial officials met to formally approve the project and to finalize the location, scope and industries involved. Detailed engineering and construction preparation work was expected to start almost immediately.

CNNC and the Zhejiang government plan to accelerate the construction of the nuclear components centre and training centre in Haiyan. The central area of the industrial park and the exhibition centre was to be launched first in July 2010. Enterprises in the industrial park will enjoy priority for bidding quota, bidding training, qualification guidance and specific purchasing with CNNC.

China will reportedly spend some $175 billion over the next ten years on developing the 130 square-kilometre Haiyan Nuclear City.

The Haiyan nuclear industrial park is entitled to all the preferential benefits granted to national economic and technological zones and national hi-tech industrial zones.

The Nuclear City is expected to have four main areas of work: development of the nuclear power equipment manufacturing industry; nuclear training and education; applied nuclear science industries (medical, agricultural, radiation detection and tracing); and promotion of the nuclear industry.

On its website, the Haiyan Nuclear City said that it will be based on the Burgundy region of France, which successfully became an industrial centre for the French nuclear industry. Several small and medium sized French nuclear-related companies moved to Burgundy to actively participate in the global market.

On 12 August, a group of 30 members from the French-China Electricity Partnership (PFCE) and the French Nuclear Industry Association (GIIN) visited Haiyan seeking to find opportunities for cooperation and investment projects for some 52 French suppliers to Electricité de France (EdF). They signed a letter of intent for promoting cooperation in nuclear related industry with the local government.

Source: World Nuclear News

Milestones for Chinese nuclear program

Nuclear development in China has continued apace with the grid connection of a new reactor, the completion of a reactor building and a heavy forging deal.

The scene in the control room of Qinshan II-3 when power first flowed to the grid (Image: CNNC)

The third reactor at Qinshan Phase II nuclear power plant was connected to the East China Power Grid just before midnight on 1 August. The reactor is a CNP-600 pressurized water reactor upgraded to produce 650 MWe instead of the 600 MWe of previous iterations. After a program of tests, Qinshan II-3 is due to enter full commercial operation next year.

Another CNP-600 is also under construction at Qinshan, about one year behind, while four more are planned for the Changjiang site. Apart from two Areva EPRs being built at Taishan, the bulk of of China’s new build program is based on CPR-1000s, Westinghouse AP1000s and then larger domestic derivatives of this.

The lift was completed with ’safety, honesty and excellence’, said China National Nuclear Corporation

Meanwhile in Fujian province, China Nuclear Engineering and Construction Corporation celebrated the addition of Ningde 2’s reactor dome – a full 68 days ahead of schedule, it said. This unit is a CPR-1000 slated to start commercial operation late in 2012 for owner China National Nuclear Corporation.

And in another move foreshadowing the order of more Westinghouse AP1000s, China First Heavy Industries has said it will be making the reactor pressure vessel for the first unit of the Xianning nuclear power plant. This is to be one the first sited inland and the first in which China Guangdong Nuclear Power Company will build AP1000s. Site works are already underway and construction is expected to start before the end of this year.

Source: World Nuclear News

Fangchenggang plant construction begins

The construction of the first reactor at Phase 1 of the Fangchenggang nuclear power plant has started in China’s autonomous Guangxi province.

A ceremony was held on 30 July to mark the start of construction of the first of two domestically-developed 1000 MWe CPR-1000 pressurized water reactors, which will form Phase I of the Fangchenggang nuclear power plant. The plant, construction of which was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission earlier in the month, is planned to eventually house six units.

The new plant – about 45 kilometres from the border with Vietnam – is a project of Guangxi Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Group, a joint venture between China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co (CGNPC) and Guangxi Investment Group.

Having already completed site preparation, the first concrete was poured into the nuclear island of Unit 1 of the plant during the ceremony, attended by regional and national dignitaries and company representatives. The ceremony to mark the start of construction of the Fangchenggang plant followed a ceremony the previous day to mark the signing of loan agreements between CGNPC, Guangxi Investment Group and a syndicate of Chinese banks and financial institutions for funding the project.

Together, company representatives and dignitaries prepare to pull a giant lever to start the pouring of concrete at the new Fangchenggang plant (Image: CGNPC)

The cost of constructing Phase I is 25 billion yuan ($3.7 billion). Some 87% of the equipment to be used in the Phase I units is expected to be sourced from Chinese suppliers. The first unit is scheduled to begin operating in 2015, while the second will start up in 2016.

The timetable for the construction of the second phase of the Fangchenggang plant has yet to be determined, but it will increase the project’s total investment to nearly 70 billion yuan ($10.4 billion), the China Daily newspaper reported.

Source: World Nuclear News

Next Page »