China National Nuclear Corporation to build first floating nuclear power plant

The $2.1b project will be put into use in 2021.

The China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) is set to build the country’s first floating nuclear power plant within 2019, a report by Chinese newspaper Global Times revealed.

A floating nuclear power plant is a marine platform equipped with scaled-down nuclear reactors, which can provide electricity and heat to areas with difficult access, such as remote areas, islands and offshore oil and gas platforms, Luo Qi, head of the Nuclear Power Institute (NPI) of China, explained in the report.

Luo also highlighted that the floating nuclear platform does not take up a lot of space, will not be affected by earthquakes and will create no pollution.

Gu Jun, the general manager of CNNC, also previously told the Global Times that the corporation is in preparation for a floating nuclear power plant off the coast of East China's Shandong Province.

The Qilu Evening News based in Jinan, Shandong, reported in November 2018 that the first floating nuclear power platform of a CNNC project will cost $2.1b (CNY14b), and will be put into use in 2021. 

Photo from Weibo.