Problems of safety, regulation and cost hamper China’s planned nuclear power expansion
The efforts to develop a set of regulation have so far failed because of the disagreement among various government agencies, nuclear companies and the tension between the central and provincial governments. The fragmented regulatory authority, the rivalry among government agencies, and inadequate human capacity of regulatory agencies are the key factors undermining the governance and regulatory capacity in China.
Finally, China’s nuclear future faces the challenge of the energy reality: as the economy has been undergoing structural changes, demand for electricity has slowed down.
China’s contested nuclear future The expansion of China’s nuclear power production faces some serious challenges, Asia and Pacific Policy Society, XU YI-CHONG, 5 Feb 1q6 “……..to meet the target of 58GW nuclear power capacity in operation by 2020, China would have to more than double the size of the current nuclear capacity. This means at least another 40 reactors would have to be built. At present, China has 31 reactors in operation located in 16 sites, all along the coastline.
An immediate challenge is where to put another 40 reactors. The nuclear industry in China does not think it is ready to build them in highly populated inland provinces, even though some provinces have been pushing for the central government to allow them to build nuclear power plants. Two related siting challenges are: firstly, it has become increasing difficult to get public acceptance of large infrastructure projects, especially nuclear power plants and second, reactor models adopted and developed in China are all large-scale ones, with a capacity of 1000 MW each – the larger a unit is, the more land it needs, and the broader impact it will have.
The second issue is the reactor and its associated technologies. The nuclear fleet in China consists of reactors from all major producers – the American Westinghouse AP 1000, the French EPR 1400, Canadian Candu reactors, Russian VVER, in addition to two main branches of the Chinese models. Technology selection has been a serious issue in China from the very beginning as the more models one has, the more difficult to mature and standardise technologies of reactors and those of associated elements, such as the cooling system, turbine pumps, condensers, and many others. All that means it is difficult to reduce costs.
It also makes very difficult to regulate the industry. The fragmentation of China’s nuclear industry and rivalry among the major players has seriously undermined its capacity to develop a globally acknowledged brand name and accepted technologies. The recently approved Hualong reactor is supposed to be an advanced model and the product of collaboration between the China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) and China General Nuclear Corp (CGN) but the two are still fighting for position in Chinese nuclear development. ………
The efforts to develop a set of regulation have so far failed because of the disagreement among various government agencies, nuclear companies and the tension between the central and provincial governments. The fragmented regulatory authority, the rivalry among government agencies, and inadequate human capacity of regulatory agencies are the key factors undermining the governance and regulatory capacity in China.
Finally, China’s nuclear future faces the challenge of the energy reality: as the economy has been undergoing structural changes, demand for electricity has slowed down. Nuclear expansion may help China deal with some of the problems of air pollution and CO2 emissions, because its development will inevitably affect coal-fired thermal power generation – and this utilisation rate has already fallen dramatically.
But traditional power companies, nuclear companies and those engaging in wind and solar power development are competing for market share, for resources, and for government attention and policy support, often backed by local governments and their industrial allies. The nuclear industry is a global industry: its future depends on its safe development not only in China but also elsewhere. Its safe development depends on technology maturity and effective regulation, both of which remain problematic in China. An aggressive overseas expansion of CNNC (in Argentina, Pakistan, and its ambition in Africa and Eastern Europe) and CGN (in UK, Thailand, Vietnam and others) adds only more uncertainties. – See more at: http://www.policyforum.net/chinas-contested-nuclear-future/#sthash.UfpPOfzS.dpuf
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