China has to expand nuclear industry, address public concerns: observers
China has finished constructing its first nuclear power station in Northeast China as part of an "aggressive" nuclear power development strategy amid continuing debate over the industry's safety and security.
The first phase of the Hongyanhe nuclear power station, located in Donggang township, Liaoning Province was completed on Tuesday. The station, which was initiated in 2007, is the first nuclear power station and the biggest energy investment project in Northeast China.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, over 75 percent of the devices used in the first phase were domestically made, including key equipment like vapor generators and turbo dynamos, said Liao Weiming, general manager of Liaoning Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Co Ltd, which runs the station.
The first phase of the project consists of four power generation units, with an installed capacity of up to 1.118 million kilowatts per unit.
"The project will help Northeast China in many ways including economic revival, diversification of energy sources and low-carbon and green development," Liao said.
With about 30 power generating units in use and some 20 under construction, China is going through an "aggressive development phase" in the nuclear industry, Gui Liming, an expert on China's nuclear safety systems at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times.
"Nuclear power is cheaper and more stable compared to other clean energy sources like wind and solar power. It is currently the most suitable energy source for China, which has high electricity usage due to its large population and scale of economy," Gui said.
China on Friday said it will build over 60 nuclear plants in the next 10 years, Reuters reported.
Zheng Mingguang, vice president and chief nuclear designer at China's State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC), said at least two new reactors will be built every year by each of China's three major nuclear companies - SNPTC, China National Nuclear Corporation and China General Nuclear Power Corporation.
However, the government's decision to expand the nuclear industry seems to go against an international trend under which countries like Germany and Switzerland have vowed to halt any construction of nuclear plants after the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
"Germany will instead import nuclear power from France after its domestic plants expire," Gui said. "Unlike Germany, China cannot afford to produce electricity from gas or oil, as it would be too expensive, and it doesn't have a neighbor that can generate enough electricity to satiate its demand."
"Moreover, China's existing nuclear plants are safer than that in Fukushima, while those under construction will be even safer than current ones," according to Gui.
Drawing lessons from the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, China's third-generation nuclear reactors were upgraded by adding better safety systems.
Lingering safety concerns
Wang Zuoyuan, a research fellow at the Radiation Protection and Nuclear Medicine Safety Institute of the Chinese Center for Disease Control, raised concerns over the necessity of building more nuclear plants.
"The average operating rate of the 30 plants in use is just 75 percent," Wang told the Global Times, adding that improving the utilization of existing ones was more practical than blindly building new ones.
Wang also drew attention to the process of nuclear waste management, saying that China lacks professional equipment, and a nuclear power station has to store all the waste by itself.
But Gui said that the waste will be transported to a processing factory under CNNC in Gansu Province after 15 years, when the radiation level drops to a safe level.
More process factories would be built along with the expansion of the nuclear industry, he noted.
Meanwhile, building nuclear facilities remains a touchy subject among the Chinese public, who fear such facilities might pose environmental and health risks.
On August 10, a joint China-France nuclear fuel recycling project in Lianyungang, East China's Jiangsu Province was suspended by local authorities due to strong protests from local residents.
China has to expand its nuclear industry while taking public concerns into account, Gui said.
The Legislative Office of the State Council, China's cabinet, published a management regulation draft on its official website to solicit opinions.
The regulation states that local governments should conduct risk assessment for nuclear power plant construction and hold public hearings to solicit public opinion on the site of the plant.
