China is looking for broader and deeper international cooperation
to exploit nuclear energy resources.
According to sources at the annual Academic Meeting of the China
Nuclear Society in Wuhan, Hubei
Province, although China's six operating nuclear power stations
have a combined installed generating capacity of 8.8 million
kilowatts, the amount of electricity is only 1 percent of the total
power output.
However, nuclear power generation accounts for 21.9 percent of the
total power output in the United States, 33.4 percent in Japan and
77.4 percent in France, according to Xinhua news agency.
Experts say the global nuclear power industry has entered a new
growth era and China has set the goal of expanding its installed
generating capacity in nuclear power stations to 20 million
kilowatts by 2010.
Sources at the meeting disclosed that the Shanghai branch of the
National Nuclear Society is conducting a feasibility study for a
1-million-kilowatt nuclear power station, which is expected to
offer opportunities for Sino-foreign cooperation.
By
2020, nuclear power generation will account for 5 percent of
China's total power output.
However, in order to reach this goal, China needs mammoth
investment in nuclear power production, development of utilization
technology and infrastructure construction.
The second-phase construction of the Qinshan Nuclear Power Station
in Zhejiang Province is a good example of Sino-foreign cooperation,
with the station maintaining China's independent nuclear power
technology development even as foreign partners are involved in its
construction.
In
the first phase, the Qinshan station became the first nuclear power
plant designed and constructed independently by China.
In
the ongoing construction of four nuclear power plants, however,
technologies and equipment from France, Russia and Canada have been
adopted, Xinhua News Agency said.
China has substantially improved the development and manufacturing
ability of its nuclear power generation equipment. The industry's
objective within this century is to keep pace with international
advanced technological standards.
With a history of more than 40 years, China's annual nuclear
technology utilization can yield some 15 billion yuan (US$1.8
billion) worth of output value, with a total of 300 companies and
institutes involved.
(eastday.com November 26,
2001)