China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC), the country's largest nuclear power plants operator, plans to start building the third phase of its Tianwan nuclear power plant in Jiangsu province from October next year.

The two reactors (number 5 and 6), of 1,000-mW capacity each, have got preliminary approval from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the company said in a statement on its website.

Construction of the number 5 reactor is scheduled to begin in October 2010, said the statement.

It did not say which technology the two reactors would use.

The Tianwan power plant is designed to have eight reactors, and it already operates two 1,060 mW reactors.

Once all eight reactors come into commercial use, the site will have a combined capacity of over 8,000 mW, by when it would become one of the nation's primary power bases, a CNNC source who declined to be named told China Daily yesterday.

The Tianwan nuclear power base will develop into China's third nuclear generating complex, following those built in Qinshan in Zhejiang and Daya Bay in Guangdong, he said.

China and Russia last year signed an agreement for the second phase of the Tianwan project, under which Russia will supply two 1,060-mW reactors using Russian technology.

Currently, the two parties are still negotiating to finalize the agreement, CNNC said in its statement.

Analysts said the expansion of the Tianwan plant would help meet Jiangsu's voracious appetite for power. The province is one of the fastest growing and most prosperous regions in China.

"The project has also changed the overall energy structure in Jiangsu. Before Tianwan, the province had no nuclear power, which is a clean source of power," Jiang Guoyuan, an executive with CNNC had told China Daily earlier.

Jiangsu is now shuttering many small highly-polluting coal-fired power plants and has plans to further develop clean energy sources, including nuclear power, he said.

Located in Lianyungang in Jiangsu, construction of the Tianwan nuclear power project started in 1999. The first phase of the project includes two 1,060 mW reactors using technology from Russia.

With a total investment of nearly 30 billion yuan, Tianwan phase one was then the largest joint project ever undertaken between China and Russia.

The Tianwan nuclear power plant still uses second-generation nuclear power technology. China is now focusing on developing the third generation technology.

Compared with reactors using first or second generation technology, reactors with third generation technology are simpler in design, thus reducing capital costs. They are also more fuel-efficient and safer.

The country has set up the State Nuclear Power Technology Corp Ltd, which is mainly responsible for domestic development of nuclear power using advanced third generation technology from overseas.

China has signed a deal with a consortium led by the US-based Westinghouse Electric Co to build four third-generation nuclear power reactors. The country will use Westinghouse's AP1000 technology to build two reactors in Sanmen, Zhejiang province, and in Haiyang, Shandong province.

China has also signed an 8-billion-euro agreement with the French nuclear company Areva to supply technology for two other third generation nuclear reactors. Areva will supply two reactors for a project in Taishan in Guangdong.

According to the NDRC, China's nuclear power industry has seen accelerated development in recent years. In 2005, China had planned to increase its nuclear power capacity to 40 gW by 2020, when it would account for 4 percent of the nation's total power capacity.

NDRC has readjusted its earlier goal in order to coordinate with the boom in industrial development, by increasing it to some 5 percent of the total power capacity in 2020.

(China Daily August 20, 2009)