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Nuke power firm plans project in Hainan
By Wang Ying (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-11 05:57
The nation's largest nuclear plant builder, China National Nuclear Corp
(CNNC), is in talks with Hainan Province to build a nuclear plant in the South
China island province.
"We finished preliminary talks with senior government officials last week and
further negotiations are expected next year," a CNNC director, who did not want
to be identified, said yesterday in Beijing.
The site for the plant has not been decided, he said, and it will be selected
from 10 potential locations.
The size of the plant will depend on the power demand forecast for the
province, the director told China Daily.
CNNC will use advanced technology for building the plant, which is yet to
secure final approval from the National Development and Reform Commission, the
country's top economic planning body.
To build a nuclear plant, CNNC spends three years in preliminary preparations
and another five years on building infrastructure, he explained.
The Hainan plant is CNNC's latest proposal which could be included in the
12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) or later, he revealed.
The company plans a wide network of plants across coastal provinces such as
Liaoning, Shandong, Fujian and Guangdong; and most have been included in the
country's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10).
Surging energy demand has pushed the central government to accelerate the
building of nuclear power plants to cut the heavy reliance on coal and imported
oil.
The nation's power consumption is estimated to more than double to 4.6
trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) from now to 2020, and CNNC has budgeted some 400
billion yuan (US$49.3 billion) to build at least 30 nuclear plants to produce 4
per cent of the country's total electricity generation by then.
The Hainan government's long-term plan to push industrial sectors such as
petrochemicals and steel will also drive its power demand to increase by an
annual 15.5 per cent to reach 17.5 billion kWh by 2010, said a local news
report.
(China Daily 10/11/2005 page2)
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