Inland China's first three nuclear power plants to operate before 2016

The first three nuclear power stations in inland China are expected to start operations before 2016, with the hopes that energy shortages will be eased, according to the 2009 China Power Forum  in Beijing Wednesday.

Wang Binghua, chairman of State Nuclear Power Technology Corp., said at the forum that, the power station which is being built in Xian'ning City in the central Hubei Province, is expected to begin operations in 2012. This will make Hubei the first inland province with a power station. He added that Taohuajiang City in central Hunan Province will have a power station built by April next year, as well as the nuclear power plant in Pengze City in eastern Jiangxi Province; following Xian'ning City, with their completion expected in 2015.

China needs to build more nuclear power stations to cope with energy shortages and pollution, Ye Qizhen, deputy director of the science and technology committee of the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and member of Chinese Academy of Engineering, said at the forum. He explained that China's vast inland areas need nuclear power stations to drive economic growth, especially in regions that lack coal and water resources.

Ye also used the example of the massive power failure due to snowstorms in January and February 2008 that affected central and southern China, to warn people of the risk of power shortages in the country's hinterland.

Currently, China has 11 operating nuclear power generating units scattered along the eastern coast with the total capacity of 9.1 million kilowatts, said Zhou Zhenxing, chairman of Uranium Industry Company, a subsidiary of China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Corporation, adding that another 12 units under construction will have an operating capacity of 34.76 million kilowatts.
   
General manager of CNNC Sun Qin predicted that inland nuclear power stations will be constructed as well as operated on a massive scale in 2013.

According to Ye, China's installed capacity of nuclear power is expected to reach 70 million kilowatts by 2020, 200 million kilowatts by 2030 and 400 million kilowatts by 2050. "It means nuclear power will account for 7 percent of China's overall power capacity in 2020, 15 percent in 2030 and 22 percent in 2050," he said.

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