Inland nuclear power policy shift: steady progress

The National Energy Work Conference held in 2011 recently set the tone for the construction of inland nuclear power projects down from last year's "active" to "steady."

Informed sources disclosed that at the National Energy Conference held on January 6, the National Energy Administration’s Director Zhang Guobao once said fiercely that such a blind expansion as a province with several nuclear power projects is absolutely not allowed.

Inland Nuclear Power "Great Leap Forward"

According to public information, at present, domestic nuclear power plants and nuclear power plants under construction are limited to coastal areas. However, due to various considerations in the inland areas, there are many nuclear power project plans. Not only Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, Henan, Sichuan, and Chongqing have announced plans for nuclear power in the province.

“Inner provinces like Jiangxi, which lacks energy, require upper nuclear power plants to have energy considerations, but the impact of a nuclear power plant with a scale of over 100 billion yuan on GDP and political performance is also an important consideration.” A person familiar with the field Say.

The person in the mouth of Jiangxi has already acted. Recently, the Jiangxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission (hereinafter referred to as the Jiangxi Development and Reform Commission) formally approved the establishment of the Jiujiang Nuclear Power Industrial Base. Yao Mugen, director of the Jiangxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission, said that the first nuclear power plant in Jiangxi Province, located in Pengze County of Jiujiang City, is planned to begin construction in the first half of this year, with a total investment of over 100 billion yuan***.

China News Service reported on the 10th that the aforementioned nuclear power plant project was constructed in three phases, with a total investment of 105 billion yuan. "Jiangxi Daily" reported on December 26, 2010 that the latest progress of the project was that Jiangxi Province would strive to obtain the "Road" issued by the National Development and Reform Commission in the first half of 2011 and start construction, striving to build it at the end of the "Twelfth Five-year Plan". Project.

According to available data, Pengze Hatsune Nuclear Power Station is located in Matang Town, Pengze County, Jiujiang City, with the Yangtze River in the north and Taibo Lake in the south. The total area of ​​about 2,800 acres, about 80 kilometers from Jiujiang City, about 170 kilometers away from Nanchang City.

As the largest investment project in Jiangxi Province since 1949, the Pengze nuclear power plant plans to build 4 million kilowatt-class nuclear power units and reserves 2 units for construction. Among them, the first phase of the project plans to use the third-generation nuclear power technology to build two 125 MW AP1000 PWR generator sets.

Zhou Xiujie, a researcher in the energy industry at China Investment Advisors Co., Ltd., said yesterday that the preliminary work of the project can indeed be carried out, but it has yet to get the official approval of the country. In addition, none of the planned nuclear power plants in the interior of the country has yet been officially approved by the state. This means that it is too early for the Hatshan Nuclear Power Station to begin construction on the core parts of nuclear islands.

Informed sources disclosed that "the design of nuclear power plants is generally divided into concept design, preliminary design, and construction design. The first two parts have been completed and construction design is underway."

National Energy Bureau "change tone"

Although the enthusiasm of nuclear power stations in the inland areas has increased, the country’s policy direction has quietly changed.

The National Energy Work Conference held on January 6th proposed the efficient development of nuclear power on the basis of ensuring safety, “prioritizing the construction of coastal nuclear power and steadily advancing inland nuclear power projects”. Last year, the reference to the development of nuclear power was "accelerating the development of coastal nuclear power and actively promoting inland nuclear power projects."

From "proactive" to "steady", it shows the National Energy Administration's attitude toward the "Great Leap Forward" of nuclear power in inland areas.

However, according to an informed source in the nuclear power industry, it is normal for the provinces to have many sites and plans. Because of the early multi-site selection, the country needs to be screened afterwards. After the screening is completed, it will not bloom again.

The above-mentioned sources also analyzed that inland nuclear power must also develop. Because China's planning for the introduction of Westinghouse’s AP1000 technology is, “The coastal area is a project that relies on the digestion and absorption of AP1000 technology; the mainland is an autonomous project, that is, autonomously building AP1000 nuclear power plants. If there are no nuclear power plants inland, then there is no such thing as “autonomy.” Project"."

The National Energy Work Conference held on January 6 proposed that the specific tasks for nuclear power during the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” period are: the opening of Tianwan Phase II, Hongyanhe Phase II, Sanmen Phase II, and Haiyang Phase II in an orderly manner. . Timely construction of the first phase of the Taohua River, the first phase of the Dayi River, and the first phase of the Pengze project.

Tianwan, Hongyanhe, Sanmen and Haiyang are all located in the coastal areas. The Taohuajiang Nuclear Power Station, which was classified as “timely construction,” was located in Hunan, Daxie Nuclear Power Station was located in Hebei, and the Pengze Phase I Project was a nuclear power plant project located in Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province. There are currently only three inland nuclear power projects that have explicitly entered the national plan.

Regarding the mainland's eagerness for nuclear power projects, the latest issue of “Viewing Hope” published articles of Fan Bi and Tang Yuan in the Research Office of the State Council, stating that “the scale and pace of development of nuclear power should be reasonably understood”.

The article pointed out: "Every East, Central, and Western China has proposed to apply nuclear power. Many provinces have even been led by the provincial party committee and provincial government's main leaders to catch nuclear power projects and continue to submit them to the energy authorities. They hope that the province's projects will be included in the plan and have been included in the plan. The provinces require early start. The huge investment brought by new nuclear power projects can pull GDP, but due to the lack of sufficient implementation conditions, the project starts and will bring many new problems after operation, which should be highly valued."

The two experts are concerned that the scale of China’s nuclear power projects under construction and proposed is no small, and the supporting capabilities in talents, equipment manufacturing, nuclear fuel, operation and maintenance, and capital investment are very tight. "If you follow the current development momentum, you may endanger the long-term healthy development of nuclear power by running too many nuclear power projects too quickly in the near future."

The article also suggested that the AP1000 technical route should be adhered to and that the nuclear power installed capacity by 2020 should be controlled under 70 million kilowatts.

According to available information, it was previously reported that the 2020 plan is 80 million kilowatts.

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