China nuclear power reactors

R D efforts on innovative nuclear power reactor designs were conducted in international cooperation. The Chinese design of an AC-600 reactor which has been accepted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as a progressive concept is currently investigated by the Nuclear Power Institute of China [92]. 

There are currently 436 nuclear power reactors around the world. The breakdown of the distribution by country is shown in the table below. Aside from the United States, a few other countries with large numbers of nuclear reactors are France, Russia, China, Japan, and Korea—each of these nations has at least twenty nuclear reactors currently in operation. 

China is planning to develop the world s first commercially operated pebble bed nuclear power reactor of 195 MWg station in Shandong Province. 

As of May 2015, China (mainland) has 26 nuclear power reactors in operation, which contribute 2.4% of the total electricity production according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Twenty-four reactors are under constraction this is 40% of aU reactors under construction in the world. Additional reactors are also planned, including some of the world s most advanced reactors, to provide... 

Xu, M., 2009. Fast reactor and sustainable nuclear energy development in China. China Nuclear Power 2, 106—110. 

Currently, 28 reactors are under construction in China, India, Russia and other nations. While numerous important issues endure such as the toxic byproducts, nuclear power is in a resurgence with investor interest rising as well. 

The battle over nuclear power waxed hot and heavy for several years, swaying back and forth as incidents unfolded. The publication of the government-sponsored Reactor Safety Study in 1975, which showed that there would be very modest consequences from nearly all reactor accidents, was a positive event. The report concluded that the average number of fatalities from a meltdown would be about 400 and that there might be one meltdown in every 20,000 years of plant operation, or 0.02 deaths per year versus about 25 deaths per year due to air pollution from a coal-burning plant.8 It received little notice outside the scientific community. The movie The China Syndrome (released in 1979), which implied that a reactor meltdown accident would have— not possibly might have—very horrible consequences, was an important negative event. 

In December 2006, Westinghouse, a major maker of nuclear power plants (and owned by Toshiba in Japan), announced a multi-billion dollar deal to sell four new nuclear plants to China. The deal, worth about 5 billion, includes work to be performed by U.S. engineering giant Shaw Group, Inc. AREVA Group also has a deal with China for two reactors and approximately 20 years worth of atomic fuel. Thanks to the nuclear efforts in China and other countries in the Far East, more than 20,000 megawatts of nuclear capacity have come online globally since 2000. 

This industry is on the decline due to the peace-time agreements and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, (CTBT). Under this agreement, enrichment of UF6 is restricted to lower grade U235 for reactor fuel to be used in commercial electric power generation. In North America, there is an antinuclear atmosphere, hence it is less likely to see the expansion or additions of nuclear power plants in the USA. Whereas China, India, and East European countries may require additional nuclear fuel for their fast growing industries and electrification of the rural areas. 

A look at the use of different reactor types demonstrates the dominant role of the LWR line in commercial electricity production. From 428 nuclear power plants operating worldwide in 1996 to produce 363 GW(e) or 17 % of the international electricity supply -plus 62 units under construction to produce 55 more GW(e) - 342 plants are LWRs, 249 PWRs and 93 BWRs, for a total of 311 GW(e) [27]. And the trend to larger power units was observed. Not more than 5 GW(th) of global nuclear power are presently employed to supply hot water and steam, mostly in Canada, China, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine [25]. 

Worldwide, 430 nuclear plants generate about 17% of all electricity. In France, nuclear s share is 79% in Japan it is 28%. Whereas there has not been a new nuclear plant ordered in the United States since 1978, there were 24 nuclear power plants worldwide under construction in 2005 (ElA 2006c). Many countries have ambitious plans to build more plants. China, with just nine plants currently in operation, plans on building as many as 25 new plants by 2025. Given the potential size of the Chinese market, reactor vendors from several countries are actively pursuing Chinese contracts, with the hope that China will use their designs for future plants. 

It should be noted that in other South and East Asia countries with few indigenous fossil fuel and little uranium ore reserves there is the same situation concerning effective nuclear fuel breeding by LMFR. Republic of Korea s LMFR program consists of development, design and construction of a prototype reactor of 150-350 MW(e) power. The first fully-proven reactor is planned to be in operation by 2025. In China, experimental fast reactor CEFR-25 is planned to become critical in 2005. 

Statiis and prospects of propulsion reactor (PR) applications. The PRs for ice-breakers and ships have accumulated about 150 reactor-years of successful operation. Recent developments in the Russian Federation, Canada, China and other countries have demonstrated, that power reactors originally designed for ship propulsion could be used for electricity and heat generation. Use of proven PR technology and new developments on small reactor (SR) presents a broader nuclear power options to meet individual Member States needs for land-based and floating SRs. 

Figure 21.21 The United States has the most reactors in operation. China has the most reactors under construction. France generates the largest percentage of its electricity from nuclear power.

The Technical Committee Meeting was convened within the IAEA s Nuclear Power Programme on the recommendation of the IAEA s International Working Group on Gas-cooled Reactors (IWGGCRs). It was attended by participants from China, France, Germany, Indonesia,... 

As a developping country, China has a ambitious demands to energy resources in next several decades. At that age will China have die same situation like today s situation of other developped countries the answer will be negative. China will not have enough suitable and, economical conventional resources, except nuclear. It is obviously that nuclear power in large scale needs fast breeder reactors, which just is the case of China... 

Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation, Japan China Atomic Energy Institute, China... 

A particularly interesting stage in the development of the international trade in nuclear power is a contract between Pakistan and China for the supply of a 300 MWe PWR of Chinese design. In many other parts of the world the commitment of money needed to bring small reactor designs to the stage where such a contract would be feasible has been lacking. 

Between the 1986 Chernobyl accident and mid-1990s, only one nuclear power station was conunissioned in Russia, the 4-unit Balakovo, with unit 3 being added to Smolensk. Economic reforms following the collapse of the Soviet Union meant an acute shortage of funds for nuclear developments. By the late 1990s, exports of reactors to Iran, China, and India were negotiated and Russia s stalled domestic construction program was revived as far as funds allowed. 

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