By staff reporter Li Qiyan

Nuclear power development in China’s vast inland region is ready for takeoff now after a technology base has been confirmed.

Han Xiaoping, executive vice president of the Web site China5e.com, told Caijing that a major reason for the slow pace of nuclear construction in recent years had been the country’s lack of an official technology standard.

The wait ended in September, when China officially adopted AP1000 nuclear power technology -- a standard for plants designed by U.S.-based Westinghouse -- as the basis for inland nuclear projects, rejecting a French company’s design. The decision was seen as a key step toward faster development of the nation’s nuclear power industry.

“China has been waiting for the safer, third-generation nuclear power technology,” said Han.

A few days later, settlements were reached for major equipment purchases for the Sanmen nuclear power project in Zhejiang Province and the Haiyang project in Shandong Province – both based on the AP1000 technology. At the same time, several other projects in inland regions got under way.

Powering the Interior

In late 2007, the Chinese government revised the country’s nuclear power development strategy from “moderate development” to “positive development.” It was an encouraging signal for the nuclear industry.

The country’s medium- to long-term nuclear development strategy for 2005-’20 gives priority to provinces along the eastern coast such as Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shandong, Jiangsu, Liaoning and Fujian. However, with growing demand for power in China’s interior regions, provinces including Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Henan, Gansu and Jilin are also actively applying for nuclear power projects.

Caijing learned that the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has considered amending the development strategy to allow more inland projects, and boosting the nation’s overall nuclear power growth target.

As a result, several nuclear projects are expected to receive construction approval soon. These should include the Daban project in Hubei Province, the Taohuajiang plant in Hunan Province, and the Pengze project in Jiangxi Province.

The key to developing nuclear power in inland China has been the selection of a technology standard.

Wang Binghua, chairman of the State Nuclear Power Technology Corp. (SNPTC), officially announced the choice. He said China has been preparing to promote inland nuclear projects based on the technology through the site selection process, technological research and development, and the drafting of standards.

“AP1000 technology is suitable for inland nuclear power plants,” said Wang. “It is safer and more economical, and has unique advantages for nuclear power station construction in inland regions.”

However, some experts have taken a cautious stand on the issue of a technology standard. For example, Qian Jihui, a former deputy chief at the International Atomic Energy Agency, told Caijing that the AP1000 technology is not yet mature.

China should evaluate its first batch of nuclear power projects based on the technology, which are set to be completed by 2013, and then decide whether to further promote the technology, Qian said.

Bidding Process

The process of choosing a technology standard has been a major hurdle for the nation’s nuclear industry ever since September 2004, when China launched a bidding process for third-generation technology. The winner would benefit from the business tied to four proposed reactors at the Sanmen and the Yangjiang site in Guangdong Province. A two-year evaluation pitted Westinghouse and its AP1000 technology against the EPR technology developed by France’s Areva.

An expert who participated in the evaluation told Caijing that AP1000 technology is less complicated and easier to control. Its advanced design also offered higher security with lower costs.

But Arnaud de Bourayne, president of Areva China, claims his company’s EPR technology is more stable than AP1000. “EPR is designed with a high capacity to resist both internal and external accidents,” he said.

AP1000 won the first round in late 2006. Meanwhile, the targeted projects were revised to include Sanmen along with Haiyang – excluding the Guangdong plant. China Power Investment Co., developer of Haiyang, thus became the first power company of its kind involved in China’s nuclear power industry.

A China Power source told Caijing that “we were quite surprised. Since no result was made during the previous meeting, we were informed almost at the last minute -- and ran to sign the contract in a hurry.”

Areva has not been cold-shouldered by the Chinese. In the middle of last year, the French company won an order for a nuclear power project in Guangdong called Taishan. The project is headed by Guangdong Nuclear Power Group.

But a few months later, Jiang Xinsheng, the president of China National Technical Import & Export Co. (CNTIEC), was detained by the Communist Party disciplinary agency for leaking confidential bid information to Areva during the bidding process in 2004.

A source close to Jiang told Caijing “many people familiar with him were surprised by his detention, as he had been quite honest and did not lack money. We guess that he did so because he got emotional and disagreed with the government’s decision.”

Caijing learned that several other officials were detained, and that Jiang’s fall may just be the first to shake China’s nuclear power industry.

But that hasn’t stopped China’s accelerated pace for nuclear power development. According to the NDRC, 18 provinces and cities have now applied for nuclear power sites.

Security Concerns

Chen Wangxiang, deputy director of the Energy Resources Development and Research Center at China Investment Association, told Caijing that safety should be the top concern for developing the inland nuclear power projects.

A September 18 announcement about a fire at the Tianwan nuclear power plant in Jiangsu underscored Chen’s point. A transformer caught fire in late August, forcing the reactor to shut down. Officials said the accident had no impact on plant safety.

But Tianwan’s accident was not the first. An industry insider disclosed that, during the past year, a domestic nuclear power group had five similar safety incidents that led to reactor shutdowns.

“With a dense population, China can be easily threatened by a nuclear power plant accident,” said a nuclear expert. “That’s why China has been waiting for the maturity of the third generation nuclear power technology, which has a higher security level.”

But the expert warned, “Even the third generation technology is not perfectly safe.”