China Set to Build 40 Nuclear Power Generation Units Within 15 Years

Apr 06 - BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

China will build 40 nuclear power generation units with a combined maximum capacity of 40m kW in the next 15 years, according to the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (CSTIND).

"Nuclear power will play increasing important role in the development of China's power industry," said Zhang Fubao, deputy director of the system engineering department under the CSTIND, at a symposium on nuclear power market and technology in China, opened Wednesday [6 April] in Shanghai, China's leading industrial centre.

China is examining and approving the second phase expansion of the Lingao Nuclear Power Plant in south China's Guangdong Province and the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant in Zhejiang Province, as well as construction of the Yangjiang and Sanmen nuclear power plants in Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces.

China is taking steps to increase the proportion of nuclear power in its overall energy supply and make it an important element of energy development in future, Zhang said. "Nuclear power will become the pillar of energy supply in coastal areas of east China. By 2020, the generating capacity of China's nuclear power sector is to reach 40m kW, accounting for four per cent of the total installed power generating capacity in the country," he said.

The country's nuclear power sector produced 50.4bn kWh of electricity last year, making up 2.3 per cent of the total national electric power production.

The symposium coincides with the opening of the China International Exhibition on Nuclear Power Industry, which attracted 130 enterprises and research institutes from more than countries and regions

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