China starts building 3rd-generation nuclear reactors

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-20 09:44

Two of the four pressurized water reactors will be installed in Sanmen of Zhejiang Province and two in Haiyang City, eastern Shandong Province.

William Poirier, vice president of Nuclear Power Plants China of Westinghouse Electric Company, said China has a sound nuclear power security system with a strict supervision work.

He said he believed China can replicate the experiences of the third-generation nuclear power technologies and build more such stations.

China's mainland has 11 nuclear reactors at six plants, all on the east coast, with a combined installed capacity of 9.07 million kw.

To meet its fast economic growth, China plans to develop more nuclear power. The country plans to have 40 million kw of installed nuclear capacity on its mainland by 2020, which would be 4 percent of projected electricity supply capacity, or double the current level.

Of the 11 reactors, three use domestic technologies, two are equipped with Russian technology and four with French technologies, and two are Canadian designed. All the 11 reactors employ second-generation nuclear power technologies.

Speaking at Sunday's inauguration ceremony of the first-phase project of the Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang urged making more efforts to develop new energy to ensure the country's energy security and boost economic growth.

He underscored innovation as the key to nuclear power development, calling for enterprises to adopt advanced technology and enhance self-innovation.

He said it was inevitable that China would need to improve energy structure and enhance energy conservation and emission cuts when resources and environment issues took their toll on economic development.

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