By R Kim Republished courtesy of IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
SEOUL (IDN) - Preparations are at an advanced stage for building China's first Nuclear Power City in the coastal city of Haiyan, on the Yangtze Delta. The construction of the Nuclear City is expected to "start soon", according to the World Nuclear News.
The Nuclear Power City will be built some 118 kilometers (70 miles) southwest of Shanghai and close to the cities of Hangzhou, Suzhou and Ningbo, lying midway along China's coast, where several nuclear power plants have been constructed or are planned, the World Nuclear News (WNN) says quoting the Nicobat Group, the leading China nuclear resource for U.S. nuclear companies entering the Chinese market.
China will reportedly spend some $175 billion over the next ten years on developing the 130 square-kilometre Haiyan nuclear industrial park in Zhejiang province, which is entitled to all the preferential benefits granted to national economic and technological zones and national hi-tech industrial zones.
In Zhejiang province itself, there are currently five nuclear power reactors in operation and two under construction at Qinshan. There are also two reactors under construction at the Fangjiashan plant. By 2014, when all nine units should be in operation, electrical generating capacity will total some 6300 MWe, says the Nicobar Group.
In addition to the nuclear power plants, Haiyan hosts the headquarters of 18 leading Chinese nuclear equipment suppliers as well as branch offices of all the major Chinese nuclear design institutes and construction companies.
In March 2010, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) launched its nuclear power base -- 'China Nuclear Power City' -- in Haiyan. In April, the Zhejiang provincial government signed a "strategic energy cooperation agreement" with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation (CGNPC). The conceptual design of the Haiyan Nuclear City has been completed in Beijing, reports WNN.
In July, local and provincial officials met to formally endorse the project and to finalize the location, scope and industries involved. Detailed engineering and construction preparation work was expected to start almost immediately.
CNNC and the Zhejiang government plan to accelerate the construction of the nuclear components centre and training centre in Haiyan. The central area of the industrial park and the exhibition centre was to be launched first in July 2010. Enterprises in the industrial park will enjoy priority for bidding quota, bidding training, qualification guidance and specific purchasing with CNNC.
The Nuclear City is expected to have four main areas of work: development of the nuclear power equipment manufacturing industry; nuclear training and education; applied nuclear science industries (medical, agricultural, radiation detection and tracing); and promotion of the nuclear industry.
The Haiyan Nuclear City website said that it has been inspired by the Burgundy region of France, which successfully became an industrial centre for the French nuclear industry. Several small and medium sized French nuclear-related companies moved to Burgundy to actively participate in the global market.
WNN said that a group of 30 members from the French-China Electricity Partnership (PFCE) and the French Nuclear Industry Association (GIIN) visited Haiyan on August 12, seeking opportunities for cooperation and investment projects for some 52 French suppliers to Electricité de France (EdF). They signed a letter of intent for promoting cooperation in nuclear related industry with the local government.
SHOWCASE
Meanwhile, the World Nuclear Association (WNA) and WNN are collaborating to gather and showcase innovative architectural proposals to "stimulate creativity in improving the appearance of nuclear power plants". The architectural proposals should be designed to "convey the technological and professional excellence that inheres in nuclear power and the profound opportunity this technology offers for a global clean-energy future".
Submissions to the first annual WNA-WNN Design Showcase will be considered by a special awards panel composed of business and policy leaders, and selected proposals will be prominently featured in a permanent section of the WNN website.
The brief is to create a graphic vision of a nominal 1000 MWe reactor with one cooling tower that is both attractive and also practical in engineering and cost terms. Entrants are asked to submit three high resolution views of their design, along with a short explanation of the design philosophy. Submissions should be made electronically to gordon@world-nuclear.org by December 1, 2010.
WNN says: "Advances in the technology and management of nuclear power have secured the role of this leading source of low-carbon energy for the coming century. But excellence within a nuclear power plant seldom extends to the plant's exterior appearance. Far too often nuclear facilities are housed in bleak industrial structures that express little of the excitement and value of the technology inside, let alone the human element of a highly skilled workforce."
Commenting on the showcase, WNA head John Ritch said, "The nuclear industry may always face a measure of public concern simply because its technology involves powerful, mysterious and unseen forces. But what the industry can certainly control is what the public does see. By expressing the modernity and precision of nuclear power today, architectural artistry could, with little or no effect on cost, help to foster increased public appreciation of a technology that is not only admirable but crucial to our world's future." (IDN-InDepthNews/16.08.2010)
Copyright © 2010 IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters
