China's nuclear power requires rational development
- By Lin Liyao
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E-mail China.org.cn, July 26, 2016
On June 30, Qian Zhimin, general manager of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), met with Hebei executive vice governor to discuss the construction of the Cangzhou Nuclear Fuel Industrial Park and Haixing Nuclear Power Industrial Park.
First built in 2014, the industrial park in Cangzhou, which includes a uranium processing plant, aims to secure a nuclear fuel supply for the country.
During a news briefing on Jan. 29 of this year, Pan Jianming, CNNC's secretary of the board and spokesman, said, "We have already finished the preliminary work, and everything is going smoothly in Cangzhou."
Pan said that the CNNC planned to build two uranium processing plants in the country, with one in Cangzhou, Hebei Province and the other in Guangdong Province, though the specific location has yet to be decided.
Before the Haixing Nuclear Power Industrial Park, two other nuclear power equipment industrial parks had already been constructed in Nanjing and Jingjiang in Jiangsu Province.
In addition, several other provinces, such as Shandong, Sichuan, Zhejiang and Hebei, are also busy with construction of nuclear power industrial parks.
Construction and contribution
On Oct. 23, 2014, CNNC President Sun Qin signed a cooperation agreement with Hebei provincial government to build a range of nuclear power projects and industrial parks there.
According to the agreement, the two sides vow to cooperate in relevant nuclear fields, including uranium processing plant, nuclear power and nuclear technology application.
In recent years, Hebei Province has placed nuclear power projects in an important position, which can be seen in the 2014 Hebei Provincial Government Work Report.
The report said that the local government will preferentially promote those projects which are beneficial to economic transformation and upgrading, like the Cangzhou and Haixing nuclear power projects.
Nuclear power is believed to be able to provide enormous economic benefits. It is estimated that every one-yuan investment on nuclear power project could increase 3.04 yuan for gross output of all industries and 1.03 yuan for the country's GDP. While every one-yuan nuclear power consumption could increase 2.22 yuan and 1.18 yuan for gross output of all industries and GDP, respectively.
The total investment of the CNNC's nuclear power projects in Haixing is expected to reach 200 billion yuan (US$29.8 billion). Therefore, the economic benefit it would bring should be significant.
Progress and prejudice
Currently, more than 20 provinces and cities throughout the country have vowed to develop nuclear projects. Early in 1980s, Hunan and Hubei provincial governments planned to introduce nuclear power projects to stimulate their local economies.
During the decade since 2005, a number of Chinese provinces and cities have been eager to promote nuclear power projects, and several places have even fought for them. Many local government officials believed that billions of nuclear power investment would surely bring numerous economic benefits, said Lin Boqiang, director of China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University.
Today nuclear power only provides two percent of China's total electricity. In contrast, the ratio in France is 78 percent while in Japan it is 30 percent.
According to the nuclear power development plan, China is expected to invest 500 billion yuan (US$74.6 billion) in the nuclear power industry during the 13th five-year plan.
The country also plans to have 58 gigawatts of installed nuclear power capacity and 30 GW under construction by 2020. To achieve this goal, analysts expect annual uranium demand will rise tenfold over the period to at least 40,000 tons.
However, not all the projects operate smoothly and bring benefits. In February 2012, the CNNC announced to build a mega billion-dollar uranium processing project in Jiangmen of Guangdong Province. But the move was canceled one year later due to local protests.
"From the perspective of the whole country, the nuclear power industry asks for rational distribution and the avoidance of repeated construction," an official of the National Energy Administration said in an interview.
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