POWER November 2012 - 51

POWER IN CHINA
In recent decades, China has accumulated
a wealth of experience in nuclear power development
in engineering design, equipment
manufacturing, construction, operation, and
management, cultivating a great number of
technology and management personnel with
high professional standards and practical
experience. This is especially important for
the introduction of third-generation Chinese
nuclear power technology and increasing the
proportion of local nuclear power equipment.
Nuclear fuel procurement is also an important
part of China's accelerating nuclear
program. More than 200 uranium mines have
been identified in Jiangnan, Qinling, Tianshan
Mountain, Qilian, Yanliao, western Yunnan,
and other regions in China, with total proved
reserves of 44,000 metric tons (t), accounting
for about 2% of the world's total reserves, according
to the International Atomic Energy
Agency. However, China's uranium output
has always been at low levels, even declining
at times compared with several years ago. In
2008, China's uranium output was merely 769
t, and the shortage was met largely through
imports from Kazakhstan, Russia, Namibia,
and Australia.
China's Post-Fukushima Response
The March 2011 Fukushima accident brought
the issue of nuclear power security and sustainability
to worldwide attention. With nearly
40% of the world's nuclear reactors under
construction in China, the focus of China's
nuclear development strategy is to learn lessons
from this event and ensure the same mistakes
aren't repeated in China. Some of the
measures taken in China are described below.
Make Policy Shifts. On March 16, 2011,
Premier Wen Jia-bao presided over a State
Council executive meeting that decided to organize
immediately a comprehensive safety
inspection of all nuclear facilities. Specifically,
it was decided that safety management
of the nuclear facilities in operation should
be strengthened, new nuclear power projects
should undergo a more strict approval process,
and nuclear safety plans and a medium- and
long-term nuclear development plan should be
drawn up and improved as quickly as possible.
The meeting also determined that approval of
all the new nuclear power projects, including
those with preparatory work already carried
out, should be suspended until the nuclear
safety plan is established. In short, measures
should be taken to ensure the absolute safety
of nuclear power development.
On the same day, China's Environmental
Protection Department issued new regulations
for environmental radiation protection of
nuclear power plants, which defined the necessary
site conditions for new nuclear power
plants. According to the new regulations,
November 2012 | POWER
environmental characteristics such as geology,
earthquakes, and other potential hazards
caused by nature or by humans should be considered
when evaluating a site's suitability for
a nuclear plant.
Develop New Regulations. To perfect
nuclear safety laws and regulations, China is
speeding up legislative work on the Atomic
Energy Act and its supporting regulations, formulating
and perfecting management methods
related to scientific research, exploitation, and
construction, as well as the safety of nuclear
power and nuclear fuel industries. Meanwhile,
the market access system of uranium exploration
and mining will continue to be perfected.
Also, the qualification system for production
and services-such as for nuclear fuel purification,
conversion, concentration, elements
processing, reprocessing, waste treatment, and
decommissioning-will be enhanced.
In the future, China will consider nuclear
safety and reliability as top issues in the nuclear
power development process. To ensure the
quality and safety of nuclear power construction,
China is devoted to establishing complete
regulations and rules for nuclear power
safety, thus forming a complete set of nuclear
power safety supervision systems, environmental
protection supervision systems, and
nuclear power emergency response systems.
With these regulations and the organization
systems, China will be able to take a comprehensive
approach to site selection, design, and
construction of nuclear power plants.
Implement Technical Innovation. In the
final analysis, Japan's nuclear accident was
a technology and design problem. After the
shock, the first response of the Fukushima
safety systems was normal: first, the safety
shutdown system was triggered even as the
self-contained emergency generator started
to help discharge the core's residual heat. But
in less than an hour, a tsunami caused by the
earthquake destroyed the emergency response
power generation system, resulting in a reactor
explosion. However, a second-generation nuclear
power plant whose active safety systems
are supported by external power are not comparable
to China's third-generation AP1000
plants under construction that have passive
safety systems. This plant design would not
have experienced the nuclear leakage events
like those at Fukushima, even faced with the
additional effects of earthquake and tsunami.
To ensure nuclear safety, several countries'
well-developed nuclear power programs have
already started fourth-generation nuclear
power reactors with even higher safety performance
levels, and so has China. Furthermore,
China will accelerate construction of largescale
advanced pressurized water reactors and
promote pressurized water reactor and fast
reactor technologies, as well as research and
www.powermag.com
development on advanced nuclear fuel cycle
core technologies. The largest energy project
in China's 863 projects-the " China experimental
fast reactor " -reached critical conditions
for the first time, indicating that China
has basically mastered the key technologies of
fourth-generation nuclear power systems, the
world's eighth country that has mastered fast
reactor technology.
Cultivate New Nuclear Talent. The scale
of China's nuclear construction ranks it as
first in the world, which requires a very welltrained
workforce. National Defense Technology
Industry Ministry statistics show that if a
million-kilowatt-class (1 GW) nuclear power
plant needs 400 workers, then more than
12,000 workers will be needed for 30 GW of
new nuclear power plants by 2020. Because
the personnel training cycle is long and the
modes of training and practical application
don't match well, students cannot adapt to the
fast development of nuclear power.
In order to speed up the cultivation of nuclear
talent, China has established nuclear energy
training programs in many colleges and
will provide financial support for universities
that have nuclear power programs.
Implement Daily Supervision Management
Measures. The earthquake was not the
only factor that raised concern following the
Fukushima nuclear accident; problems such
as aging facilities should also be considered.
In China, there are 13 nuclear power plants
in operation. Although strict monitoring and
maintenance mechanisms were established,
cautious attitudes should be kept to ensure that
problems are solved as they are found. At the
same time, the government should strengthen
the popularization of nuclear safety knowledge
and perform training exercises regularly.
All the measures and policies discussed
above are aimed at avoiding an accident similar
to what happened in Japan, or to at least
minimize losses if an accident does occur.
China has learned lessons from the Fukushima
accident.
What Will Be Fukushima's Impact
on China's Nuclear Industry?
Some of the effects of Fukushima on China's
nuclear program were felt immediately, but
the long-term goals of the program remain
unchanged.
Some Short-Term Impact. China has
temporarily slowed the speed of construction
of nuclear power stations and has reexamined
its safety programs. In addition, it has changed
the development strategy of nuclear power
from " positive development " to " safe development. "
Specifically, on March 16, 2011, the
executive meeting of the State Council noted
that all project approvals should be suspended
until a nuclear safety plan could be put in
51
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POWER November 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER November 2012

Contents
POWER November 2012 - Cover1
POWER November 2012 - Cover2
POWER November 2012 - Contents
POWER November 2012 - 2
POWER November 2012 - 3
POWER November 2012 - 4
POWER November 2012 - 5
POWER November 2012 - 6
POWER November 2012 - 7
POWER November 2012 - 8
POWER November 2012 - 9
POWER November 2012 - 10
POWER November 2012 - 11
POWER November 2012 - 12
POWER November 2012 - 13
POWER November 2012 - 14
POWER November 2012 - 15
POWER November 2012 - 16
POWER November 2012 - 17
POWER November 2012 - 18
POWER November 2012 - 19
POWER November 2012 - 20
POWER November 2012 - 21
POWER November 2012 - 22
POWER November 2012 - 23
POWER November 2012 - 24
POWER November 2012 - 25
POWER November 2012 - 26
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POWER November 2012 - 31
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POWER November 2012 - Cover3
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