China takes right path for expanding nuclear power
Saturday, 03 November, 2012
SCMP
Workers leave a nuclear power plant in Qinshan, Zhejiang
province. China is wary of nuclear energy but needs to cut reliance on carbon-intensive coal.
From every disaster there is a lesson and China has taken the calamity at Japan's Fukushima plant 19 months ago to heart. Rather than charging ahead with its ambitious programme, it has done what should be expected: stop, check, review and proceed cautiously.
http://digcan.com/nuclear
Under plans approved by the State Council, safety standards have been raised and construction of reactors will resume "steadily". It is exactly the approach needed amid so much public anxiety about nuclear energy.
Days before a tsunami, triggered by a massive earthquake, caused a partial meltdown at the Fukushima plant, Beijing had unveiled plans to become the global leader in nuclear energy by 2020. But amid an outcry about safety, it ordered checks on its 16 plants and a freeze on 26 others under construction.
Risks were identified and failings in management found, and these have been rectified. That is as it should be. Fukushima, and the world's worst accident at Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986, show that when it comes to nuclear power, safety and preparedness can never be compromised.
But while the moratorium on projects has been lifted, the seemingly reckless drive that previously existed has been replaced by caution. No new targets have been set. Proposals for construction of reactors in inland provinces have also been dropped for three years.
Under the safety plan, a road map is laid out for the nation to attain international standards by 2020. A total of 79.8 billion yuan has been earmarked for upgrading security measures and promoting technological innovation to 2015. The early phasing out of older reactors, sharing and improving access to information, enhancing research and development of safety and improving the handling of radioactive waste has been recommended. These steps, coupled with transparency and regular updates of progress, are what are needed if public confidence in the nuclear power industry is to be restored.
Beijing has to gradually end its reliance on polluting coal and oil to produce electricity. Of the clean-energy alternatives, only nuclear can be considered reliable.
It is safe if reactors are properly built, maintained and operated. The Fukushima disaster was the result of a lack of preparedness and poor oversight. Maintaining the highest safety standards prevents accidents. Beijing's new cautious approach is the right way forward. But it also has to be transparent and keep the nation informed about the industry's every development.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Nuclear energy key to China's development
Nuclear energy key to China's development
Hooman Peimani applauds the decision to continue building reactors
Tuesday, 06 November, 2012, 12:00am
Hooman Peimani
SCMP
Fossil fuels still dominate Beijing's energy mix.
The State Council has partially lifted a ban on new nuclear power stations in China - imposed following the Fukushima nuclear incident - allowing construction to go ahead in coastal areas. Under the new terms, no inland projects will be allowed to be built in the next three years of the current five-year plan.
The ban was part of a series of measures undertaken by the Chinese government to ensure the safety of its nuclear power sector at a time when exaggerated reporting about the Fukushima accident and a prevailing lack of knowledge about nuclear energy made many people - both in the East and West - question the wisdom of nuclear energy, which in their minds had become synonymous with accidents and disasters.
http://digcan.com/nuclear
The measures included testing the safety of China's 15 operating reactors to determine whether they should be kept operational. The subsequent issuance of a clean bill of health by the Chinese nuclear authorities allowed for their continued operation, while the ban on new development limited the scope of expansion.
China is already committed to building some 27 reactors that will become operational at different times over the next decade. Construction of these began as early as 2007, and includes one - in Shandong province - where work began in mid-2011, after the Fukushima incident. That signalled China's nuclear-energy commitment, while indicating the temporary nature of the ban.
However, the ban on new inland projects will for now limit China's expansion plans, which were designed to meet its growing demand for electricity while increasing the share of non-fossil fuels in its energy mix, which is dominated by coal.
Oil, gas and coal emit carbon dioxide and account for the bulk of greenhouse gases (about 75 per cent), the main cause of global warming. Decreasing their share in the global energy mix - and increasing greener energy use - is necessary to mitigate global warming.
In an effort to do so, and also reduce its heavy dependence on imported oil, gas and coal - and the associated financial and security risks - Beijing has embarked on an impressive plan to increase the share of renewable energy, such as wind and solar (about 7 per cent in 2011) and nuclear energy (almost 0.8 per cent last year), in its energy mix. Nevertheless, fossil fuels still dominate.
Nuclear energy is currently the only non-carbon-dioxide-emitting type of energy capable of large-scale electricity generation, given the technological limits of renewables. Thus, a continued expansion of nuclear energy is crucial for China.
Against this background, the importance of the State Council decision can be appreciated. While it may only allow for a "small number" of projects to go ahead, it has clearly set the stage for the eventual complete lifting of the ban of proposed projects that are safe, suitable and necessary for China.
To assure the public of its uncompromising approach to safety, the council also stressed that the new plants would be constructed according to "third-generation safety standards".
Undoubtedly, such high standards will be applied to all future reactors, regardless of whether they are on the coast or inland.
By putting back on track the envisaged expansion plan, the moves will help increase the speed and extent of growth of China's nuclear power sector, ensuring that the nation remains at the centre of regional - and world - nuclear power expansion.
Dr Hooman Peimani is head of the Energy Security Division and a principal fellow at the Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore
Hooman Peimani applauds the decision to continue building reactors
Tuesday, 06 November, 2012, 12:00am
Hooman Peimani
SCMP
Fossil fuels still dominate Beijing's energy mix.
The State Council has partially lifted a ban on new nuclear power stations in China - imposed following the Fukushima nuclear incident - allowing construction to go ahead in coastal areas. Under the new terms, no inland projects will be allowed to be built in the next three years of the current five-year plan.
The ban was part of a series of measures undertaken by the Chinese government to ensure the safety of its nuclear power sector at a time when exaggerated reporting about the Fukushima accident and a prevailing lack of knowledge about nuclear energy made many people - both in the East and West - question the wisdom of nuclear energy, which in their minds had become synonymous with accidents and disasters.
http://digcan.com/nuclear
The measures included testing the safety of China's 15 operating reactors to determine whether they should be kept operational. The subsequent issuance of a clean bill of health by the Chinese nuclear authorities allowed for their continued operation, while the ban on new development limited the scope of expansion.
China is already committed to building some 27 reactors that will become operational at different times over the next decade. Construction of these began as early as 2007, and includes one - in Shandong province - where work began in mid-2011, after the Fukushima incident. That signalled China's nuclear-energy commitment, while indicating the temporary nature of the ban.
However, the ban on new inland projects will for now limit China's expansion plans, which were designed to meet its growing demand for electricity while increasing the share of non-fossil fuels in its energy mix, which is dominated by coal.
Oil, gas and coal emit carbon dioxide and account for the bulk of greenhouse gases (about 75 per cent), the main cause of global warming. Decreasing their share in the global energy mix - and increasing greener energy use - is necessary to mitigate global warming.
In an effort to do so, and also reduce its heavy dependence on imported oil, gas and coal - and the associated financial and security risks - Beijing has embarked on an impressive plan to increase the share of renewable energy, such as wind and solar (about 7 per cent in 2011) and nuclear energy (almost 0.8 per cent last year), in its energy mix. Nevertheless, fossil fuels still dominate.
Nuclear energy is currently the only non-carbon-dioxide-emitting type of energy capable of large-scale electricity generation, given the technological limits of renewables. Thus, a continued expansion of nuclear energy is crucial for China.
Against this background, the importance of the State Council decision can be appreciated. While it may only allow for a "small number" of projects to go ahead, it has clearly set the stage for the eventual complete lifting of the ban of proposed projects that are safe, suitable and necessary for China.
To assure the public of its uncompromising approach to safety, the council also stressed that the new plants would be constructed according to "third-generation safety standards".
Undoubtedly, such high standards will be applied to all future reactors, regardless of whether they are on the coast or inland.
By putting back on track the envisaged expansion plan, the moves will help increase the speed and extent of growth of China's nuclear power sector, ensuring that the nation remains at the centre of regional - and world - nuclear power expansion.
Dr Hooman Peimani is head of the Energy Security Division and a principal fellow at the Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore
Chinese towns spar over planned Pengze nuclear plant
Chinese towns spar over planned nuclear plant
February 16, 2012
By The Associated Press ELAINE KURTENBACH (AP Business Writer)
SHANGHAI - (AP) -- Residents of two towns in eastern China are at odds over plans for a nuclear power plant, in a dispute reflecting mixed attitudes toward the industry as work looks set to resume on projects suspended after Japan's Fukushima disaster.
http://easss.com/nuclear
The government plans to raise China's nuclear power capacity to 80 gigawatts by 2020, according to the National Energy Commission. That is below the 90 gigawatt target reported before the Japan disaster, and less than the current nuclear capacity of the United States, which was just over 100 gigawatts last year.
State media reports Thursday said work appeared poised to resume after inspections that were ordered following a magnitude 9.0 offshore earthquake on March 11, 2011. It triggered a tsunami that killed about 19,000 people along Japan's northeastern coast and knocked out power at the Fukushima plant, resulting in the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
Top leaders are expected to approve various revisions of safety guidelines and other regulations by March, the Shanghai Securities News and other newspapers reported, citing unnamed commission officials.
Despite widespread public concern over possible radiation contamination from the disaster and calls for improved safety precautions and emergency preparedness, China remains committed to building up nuclear power to help reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants and curb its reliance on costly oil imports.
China currently has 13 nuclear reactors that provide about 10 gigawatts of generating capacity and plans call for expanding that to about 40 gigawatts by 2015.
Nuclear power accounted for only 1.04 percent of all electricity consumed in China last year.
Although the government has generally pushed ahead with whatever infrastructure projects it wants, the Chinese public is becoming increasingly vocal in its concerns over potential environmental risks or other disruptions.
The planned nuclear plant in Pengze, a town on the banks of the Yangtze River in Jiangxi province, is raising complaints from residents of Wangjiang, across the river in neighboring Anhui province.
They say residents will be living dangerously near the plant and are petitioning to delay construction pending further safety studies.
The plant in Pengze, approved in 2008, reportedly was the first such project planned for an inland region: so far most of China's nuclear plants are on the coast.
Both Anhui and Jiangxi are inland regions that until recently remained relatively poor compared with faster-developing coastal province. Local officials would generally view such big investments as welcome sources of jobs and tax revenues.
So far, there has been no sign of public protest from residents in Pengze, who are busy building guesthouses to accommodate the thousands of workers expected to be employed if the project goes ahead, according to a report in the Shanghai newspaper Oriental Morning Post.
But across the river, a group of retired officials living in Wangjiang, led by a former judge named Fang Guangwen, have been getting national attention with their petition drive to have the project delayed or canceled.
An official in the Wangjiang county information office, who gave only his surname, He, said the situation had been reported to provincial authorities. He would not comment further and provincial level officials refused comment.
___
Associated Press researcher Fu Ting contributed to this report.
February 16, 2012
By The Associated Press ELAINE KURTENBACH (AP Business Writer)
SHANGHAI - (AP) -- Residents of two towns in eastern China are at odds over plans for a nuclear power plant, in a dispute reflecting mixed attitudes toward the industry as work looks set to resume on projects suspended after Japan's Fukushima disaster.
http://easss.com/nuclear
The government plans to raise China's nuclear power capacity to 80 gigawatts by 2020, according to the National Energy Commission. That is below the 90 gigawatt target reported before the Japan disaster, and less than the current nuclear capacity of the United States, which was just over 100 gigawatts last year.
State media reports Thursday said work appeared poised to resume after inspections that were ordered following a magnitude 9.0 offshore earthquake on March 11, 2011. It triggered a tsunami that killed about 19,000 people along Japan's northeastern coast and knocked out power at the Fukushima plant, resulting in the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
Top leaders are expected to approve various revisions of safety guidelines and other regulations by March, the Shanghai Securities News and other newspapers reported, citing unnamed commission officials.
Despite widespread public concern over possible radiation contamination from the disaster and calls for improved safety precautions and emergency preparedness, China remains committed to building up nuclear power to help reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants and curb its reliance on costly oil imports.
China currently has 13 nuclear reactors that provide about 10 gigawatts of generating capacity and plans call for expanding that to about 40 gigawatts by 2015.
Nuclear power accounted for only 1.04 percent of all electricity consumed in China last year.
Although the government has generally pushed ahead with whatever infrastructure projects it wants, the Chinese public is becoming increasingly vocal in its concerns over potential environmental risks or other disruptions.
The planned nuclear plant in Pengze, a town on the banks of the Yangtze River in Jiangxi province, is raising complaints from residents of Wangjiang, across the river in neighboring Anhui province.
They say residents will be living dangerously near the plant and are petitioning to delay construction pending further safety studies.
The plant in Pengze, approved in 2008, reportedly was the first such project planned for an inland region: so far most of China's nuclear plants are on the coast.
Both Anhui and Jiangxi are inland regions that until recently remained relatively poor compared with faster-developing coastal province. Local officials would generally view such big investments as welcome sources of jobs and tax revenues.
So far, there has been no sign of public protest from residents in Pengze, who are busy building guesthouses to accommodate the thousands of workers expected to be employed if the project goes ahead, according to a report in the Shanghai newspaper Oriental Morning Post.
But across the river, a group of retired officials living in Wangjiang, led by a former judge named Fang Guangwen, have been getting national attention with their petition drive to have the project delayed or canceled.
An official in the Wangjiang county information office, who gave only his surname, He, said the situation had been reported to provincial authorities. He would not comment further and provincial level officials refused comment.
___
Associated Press researcher Fu Ting contributed to this report.
China faces civic protest over new Pengze nuclear power plant
China faces civic protests over new nuclear power plants
PTI Feb 17, 2012
The Economic Times
BEIJING: China is experiencing civic protest over its ambitious plans to build massive nuclear power plants following the disaster in a Japanese atomic reactor.
An inter-provincial squabble over a nuclear power plant being built near the southern bank of the Yangtze River, has raised questions about China's ambitious expansion of its nuclear power programme, state media reported today.
The plant in the centre of the brewing controversy is located in Pengze county in Jiangxi. Across the river the government of Wangjiang county in Anhui wants the project shelved, saying they don't want the nuke plant so close to their backyard.
A report submitted by Wangjiang officials accuses its neighbour of lying about the population density in the area.
http://easss.com/magazines
They claim more than 150,000 people from Wangjiang alone live within a 10-kilometre radius of the plant. State regulations require that no more than 100,000 people should be living within a 10-kilometre radius of a planned nuclear power plant.
The Wangjiang report also claims the proposed plant is in or near an earthquake zone.
They point to a 2011 quake that shook the city of Jiujiang about 80 kilometres away which measured 4.6 on the Richter scale, and another in 2005 that measured 5.7, state run Global Times reported today.
Just two years ago China announced an ambitious plan to up the percentage of electricity supplied by nuclear power to five percent of total power by 2020.
This would see the country's nuclear generating capacity increase more than seven times to over 80 gigawatts.
China currently has 13 nuclear power plants with varied capacities and constructing 27 others, mostly with 1000mw capacity, made with US, French and Japanese technologies.
Work in all these plants was stopped for safety review after the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear reactors.
Jiangxi country officials argue that planned nuclear power plant with six reactors with installed capacity of 8000 mw is expected to work wonders for its economy.
The first reactor is expected to be operational by 2015. At a total cost of 100 billion yuan (USD 15.87 billion), even the construction of the plant will give the local economy "an enormous kick". But across the river Wangjiang country officials worry their agricultural-based economy is being threatened by the plant.
----------------
China faces civic protests over new nuclear power plants
FRIDAY, 17 FEBRUARY 2012
PTI | BEIJING
dailypioneer
China is experiencing civic protest over its ambitious plans to build massive nuclear power plants following the disaster in a Japanese atomic reactor.
An inter-provincial squabble over a nuclear power plant being built near the southern bank of the Yangtze River, has raised questions about China’s ambitious expansion of its nuclear power programme, state media reported ton Friday.
The plant in the centre of the brewing controversy is located in Pengze county in Jiangxi. Across the river the Government of Wangjiang county in Anhui wants the project shelved, saying they don’t want the nuke plant so close to their backyard.
A report submitted by Wangjiang officials accuses its neighbour of lying about the population density in the area.
They claim more than 150,000 people from Wangjiang alone live within a 10-kilometre radius of the plant. State regulations require that no more than 100,000 people should be living within a 10-kilometre radius of a planned nuclear power plant.
The Wangjiang report also claims the proposed plant is in or near an earthquake zone.
They point to a 2011 quake that shook the city of Jiujiang about 80 kilometres away which measured 4.6 on the Richter scale, and another in 2005 that measured 5.7, state run Global Times reported on Friday.
Just two years ago China announced an ambitious plan to up the percentage of electricity supplied by nuclear power to five percent of total power by 2020.
This would see the country’s nuclear generating capacity increase more than seven times to over 80 gigawatts.
China currently has 13 nuclear power plants with varied capacities and constructing 27 others, mostly with 1000mw capacity, made with US, French and Japanese technologies.
Work in all these plants was stopped for safety review after the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear reactors.
Jiangxi country officials argue that planned nuclear power plant with six reactors with installed capacity of 8000 mw is expected to work wonders for its economy.
The first reactor is expected to be operational by 2015.
At a total cost of 100 billion yuan (USD 15.87 billion), even the construction of the plant will give the local economy “an enormous kick”. But across the river Wangjiang country officials worry their agricultural-based economy is being threatened by the plant.
“We worry about two things: So many people are living close by and the potential for earthquakes. What if something happens? What are they going to do about it?” Yu Zehong, director of the development and reform commission for Wangjiang county asked.
Hu Bin, director of the nuclear project office in Pengze, said he has no idea what’s caused the sudden objections from the neighbours a few kilometres downstream. He told the Oriental Morning Post that Jiangxi officials have strictly followed regulations and communicated with the local governments in Anhui.
Yu counters Hu’s assertions, saying Anhui has never been fully consulted and was only informed the project was going ahead last year. Some residents in Wangjiang contacted by the Global Times said they haven’t heard about the project.
One woman in Mopan village, less than five km from the proposed plant, said she had no idea what a nuclear power plant actually does, nor had she heard of the accident in Japan last year.
Some residents in Madang township near where the plant will be built said they knew about the big project but hadn’t been told of any potential dangers.
While the tit-for-tat war of words between the counties in the two provinces isn’t likely to abate soon, experts on the national stage are firing up a larger debate about China’s nuclear power strategy, the Times report said.
He Zuoxiu, a leading theoretical physicist, isn’t only concerned about one nuclear plant near the banks of the Yangtze. “China shouldn’t build any nuclear power plant in the inland regions,” said He, 85, who worked on China’s first nuclear bomb.
“People have failed to consider the potential for accidents like an earthquake or terrorist attacks, or asteroid hit,” He said.
PTI Feb 17, 2012
The Economic Times
BEIJING: China is experiencing civic protest over its ambitious plans to build massive nuclear power plants following the disaster in a Japanese atomic reactor.
An inter-provincial squabble over a nuclear power plant being built near the southern bank of the Yangtze River, has raised questions about China's ambitious expansion of its nuclear power programme, state media reported today.
The plant in the centre of the brewing controversy is located in Pengze county in Jiangxi. Across the river the government of Wangjiang county in Anhui wants the project shelved, saying they don't want the nuke plant so close to their backyard.
A report submitted by Wangjiang officials accuses its neighbour of lying about the population density in the area.
http://easss.com/magazines
They claim more than 150,000 people from Wangjiang alone live within a 10-kilometre radius of the plant. State regulations require that no more than 100,000 people should be living within a 10-kilometre radius of a planned nuclear power plant.
The Wangjiang report also claims the proposed plant is in or near an earthquake zone.
They point to a 2011 quake that shook the city of Jiujiang about 80 kilometres away which measured 4.6 on the Richter scale, and another in 2005 that measured 5.7, state run Global Times reported today.
Just two years ago China announced an ambitious plan to up the percentage of electricity supplied by nuclear power to five percent of total power by 2020.
This would see the country's nuclear generating capacity increase more than seven times to over 80 gigawatts.
China currently has 13 nuclear power plants with varied capacities and constructing 27 others, mostly with 1000mw capacity, made with US, French and Japanese technologies.
Work in all these plants was stopped for safety review after the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear reactors.
Jiangxi country officials argue that planned nuclear power plant with six reactors with installed capacity of 8000 mw is expected to work wonders for its economy.
The first reactor is expected to be operational by 2015. At a total cost of 100 billion yuan (USD 15.87 billion), even the construction of the plant will give the local economy "an enormous kick". But across the river Wangjiang country officials worry their agricultural-based economy is being threatened by the plant.
----------------
China faces civic protests over new nuclear power plants
FRIDAY, 17 FEBRUARY 2012
PTI | BEIJING
dailypioneer
China is experiencing civic protest over its ambitious plans to build massive nuclear power plants following the disaster in a Japanese atomic reactor.
An inter-provincial squabble over a nuclear power plant being built near the southern bank of the Yangtze River, has raised questions about China’s ambitious expansion of its nuclear power programme, state media reported ton Friday.
The plant in the centre of the brewing controversy is located in Pengze county in Jiangxi. Across the river the Government of Wangjiang county in Anhui wants the project shelved, saying they don’t want the nuke plant so close to their backyard.
A report submitted by Wangjiang officials accuses its neighbour of lying about the population density in the area.
They claim more than 150,000 people from Wangjiang alone live within a 10-kilometre radius of the plant. State regulations require that no more than 100,000 people should be living within a 10-kilometre radius of a planned nuclear power plant.
The Wangjiang report also claims the proposed plant is in or near an earthquake zone.
They point to a 2011 quake that shook the city of Jiujiang about 80 kilometres away which measured 4.6 on the Richter scale, and another in 2005 that measured 5.7, state run Global Times reported on Friday.
Just two years ago China announced an ambitious plan to up the percentage of electricity supplied by nuclear power to five percent of total power by 2020.
This would see the country’s nuclear generating capacity increase more than seven times to over 80 gigawatts.
China currently has 13 nuclear power plants with varied capacities and constructing 27 others, mostly with 1000mw capacity, made with US, French and Japanese technologies.
Work in all these plants was stopped for safety review after the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear reactors.
Jiangxi country officials argue that planned nuclear power plant with six reactors with installed capacity of 8000 mw is expected to work wonders for its economy.
The first reactor is expected to be operational by 2015.
At a total cost of 100 billion yuan (USD 15.87 billion), even the construction of the plant will give the local economy “an enormous kick”. But across the river Wangjiang country officials worry their agricultural-based economy is being threatened by the plant.
“We worry about two things: So many people are living close by and the potential for earthquakes. What if something happens? What are they going to do about it?” Yu Zehong, director of the development and reform commission for Wangjiang county asked.
Hu Bin, director of the nuclear project office in Pengze, said he has no idea what’s caused the sudden objections from the neighbours a few kilometres downstream. He told the Oriental Morning Post that Jiangxi officials have strictly followed regulations and communicated with the local governments in Anhui.
Yu counters Hu’s assertions, saying Anhui has never been fully consulted and was only informed the project was going ahead last year. Some residents in Wangjiang contacted by the Global Times said they haven’t heard about the project.
One woman in Mopan village, less than five km from the proposed plant, said she had no idea what a nuclear power plant actually does, nor had she heard of the accident in Japan last year.
Some residents in Madang township near where the plant will be built said they knew about the big project but hadn’t been told of any potential dangers.
While the tit-for-tat war of words between the counties in the two provinces isn’t likely to abate soon, experts on the national stage are firing up a larger debate about China’s nuclear power strategy, the Times report said.
He Zuoxiu, a leading theoretical physicist, isn’t only concerned about one nuclear plant near the banks of the Yangtze. “China shouldn’t build any nuclear power plant in the inland regions,” said He, 85, who worked on China’s first nuclear bomb.
“People have failed to consider the potential for accidents like an earthquake or terrorist attacks, or asteroid hit,” He said.
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