First concrete poured on Yangjiang nuclear power plant unit 3.

[NNadir]

The first concrete has been poured for unit 3 of the Yangjiang nuclear power plant in Guangdong province, China. Meanwhile, contracts have been signed for the supply of components for other CPR-1000 reactors under construction in the country.

China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co (CGNPC) announced that a ceremony, attended by numerous officials, was held on 15 November to mark the official start of construction of the 1080 MWe pressurized water reactor. The unit becomes the 24th reactor currently under construction in China.

At a meeting of China's National Nuclear Safety Administration Committee of Experts in Beijing on 10 November, a decision was made to approve the issuance of construction permits for Yangjiang units 3 and 4. Two days later, CGNPC was officially presented with the construction permits.

Yangjiang unit 3 is scheduled to enter commercial operation in 2015, while construction of unit 4 should start in early 2011, with the reactor set to begin operating in 2016.

The Yangjiang plant will eventually host six domestically engineered CPR-1000 reactors. Development of six units at Yangjiang was approved in 2004, with the CPR-1000 reactor design later confirmed as the technology choice. The total investment in Yangjiang's six reactors is to be 69.5 billion reminbi ($10.1 billion). Construction of the first of two units started in December 2008 for commercial operation in 2013. Units 5 and 6 of the plant are scheduled to be completed by 2017.

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-Construction_starts_on_third_Yangjiang_unit-1711104.html">Construction starts on third Yangjiang unit

The number of reactors under construction in China had briefly fallen to 23 with the completion of a reactor early last month. That was the second reactor to go commercial this year.

China has announced a program to have 80 nuclear reactors on line by 2020, 200 by 2030, and 400 by 2050. If realized - and the pace of construction and completion gives no reason to suspect it won't happen - China will be the second largest producer of nuclear energy in the world, slightly behind the United States, but ahead of Japan and France.

Recently China announced a $120 billion investment over the next five years in nuclear energy. The figure exceeds China's annual military budget.

At the completion of the program China will be producing as much nuclear energy as the world currently produces now.

Have a nice evening.

[Bobbieo]

1. And you are happy - unhappy - about this?

[NNadir]

2. I am thrilled about this. It shows that stupidity doesn't reign everywhere on the planet, but

only in the intellectually vapid fantasies of American anti-science anti-nukes.

China has a realistic potential to phase out coal, coal waste being the stuff that actually kills people.

The Chinese have a remarkably insightful appraoch to managing their fuel cycle as well. It would, of course, be impossible to explain this to anti-nukes, since they hate the science they know nothing about, nuclear science, much as creationists hate a science they know nothing about, molecular biology.

China has an energy future. We regrettably, have a stupid scheme to burn more energy than solar energy can produce, for instance, by fantasizing about a grand solar future.

Have a nice evening.