China to make strategic shift towards use 

of more nuclear power

Beijing (AFP)--1Sep2004

China plans to boost development of its nuclear power industry to help meet
the country's growing need for electricity, an official said Wednesday.
"Nuclear power is going to be an important pillar in the electricity-mix
especially in coastal areas where power demand is high," Zhang Huazhu,
vice-minister in charge of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry
for National Defense, was cited as saying by Xinhua news agency. The official
agency referred to the move as "an important shift in strategy". China is
looking to increase cooperation with other countries experienced in nuclear
power generation and with foreign companies involved in the industry, the
China Atomic Energy Authority added in a statement. No financial figures were
provided, but Zhang said that "China is expected to obtain over 4% of its
power supply, or 36-mil kW, from nuclear plants by 2020". Nuclear-generated
electricity now accounts for only about 1.4% of China's total power supply.

Over 90% of China's electricty is generated from coal and hydroelectric
plants. About 8.6% comes from oil and natural gas-fired plants. Bottlenecks in
coal supplies and a lack of overall generating capacity caused the worst
electricity shortages in China in two decades this summer. At the end of June,
the State Council, or cabinet, approved a draft of China's energy development
program for 2004-2020, the country's first long-term energy policy in almost
half of a century.

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