China Round-Up - 1
As China's electricity grid becomes the largest worldwide, plans for a new nuclear power plant to meet growing demand in the inland province of Hunan are developing.
China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) has signed a framework agreement with the city of Hengyang, Hunan Province, for the construction of a nuclear power plant. At a signing ceremony on 24 August, Yu Jianfeng, deputy general manager of CNNC, said that the company was actively planning to use its resources to accelerate the Hengyang project. Wen-Xiong Zhang of the Hengyang City Party Committee, said that the city government's attitude towards the development of nuclear power is 'very seriously, very seriously, very sincere.' He said that the city would 'wholeheartedly' cooperate with CNNC to advance preliminary work for the plant.
There are currently two candidate sites near Hengyang under consideration for hosting the nuclear power plant, according to a recent XXCB report. One is at Changning City and the other is in Hengdong county. Representatives from China Guodian Corp, Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute and Hunan Electric Power Design Institute have visited Hengyang to investigate the sites, the report added.
The proposed plant would be the second in the province. CNNC's Taohuajiang nuclear power plant at Xiaochetang Village, Yiyang city, near Yueyang is expected to start construction at the end of 2010 or 2011.
Meanwhile, China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group (CGNPG) and China Nuclear Group have agreed to cooperate in the allocation of uranium resources, and the processing and supply of nuclear fuel. During a 27 August meeting, Qiu Jiangang, vice president of China Nuclear Group, and Zhang Shanming, deputy general manager of CGNPG, agreed that as both groups were government-owned enterprises they should strengthen their cooperation.
The Beijing Times has reported that China has the world's longest power grid. It said that, as of the end of July, the country had 37.5 million kilometres of 220 kV and above transmission lines.
The electricity division of China's National Energy Board has also informed the government that the country's installed nuclear power generating capacity had reached just over 9 GWe by the end of July. This comprised Qinshan phase I (310 MWe); Qinshan phase II (1300 MWe); Qinshan phase III (1400 MWe); Daya Bay (1968 MWe); Lingao (1980 MWe); and, Tianwan (2120 MWe).
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