Oct 02 - Daily News Bulletin; Moscow

Russia will build the third and fourth units of the Tianwan nuclear power plant following the successful startup of the first and second units, Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) head Sergey Kiriyenko said after a visit to the construction site and a conference with Russia's Chinese partners.

The protocol of the tenth meeting of the Russian-Chinese nuclear sub-commission, which took place in Beijing on September 29, says, "Russia and China will continue cooperation in the construction of nuclear power plants at this and other locations following the successful commissioning of the first and second units," Kiriyenko said.

The first unit "is already operational. It is running at 400 megawatts.. An increase in output has not been requested because of the national holidays," he said.

Atomstroiexport and the Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation are awaiting the Chinese supervisory agency to permit the increase of the unit's output to 75% of its rated capacity of 750 megawatts.

Russia and China are also cooperating in fast neutron reactors, Kiriyenko said. China already has a Russian reactor of this kind. "We have agreed to develop new technologies for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel.

"This is important, as China is implementing a major program of constructing nuclear power plants, and Russia's respective program is not small either. This is important for both countries," he said.

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