China starts building $481-M nuclear plant

A nuclear power reactor worth $481 million is now being built at Shidao Bay, province of Shandong.

It will start generating power by the end of 2017 and will have capacity of 200 megawatts, according to the  Huaneng Shandong Shidao Bay Nuclear Power Co.

China is seeking to more than triple its nuclear power capacity to 40 million kilowatts in 2015 from 12.54 million kilowatts at the end of 2011, according to a government white paper released Oct. 24.

State-owned power generator China Huaneng Group Corp., China Nuclear Engineering Group Co., and Tsinghua University are investors in the project which is part of a plan by the three to build a 6.6 gigawatt nuclear power plant that will require investment of 100 billion yuan over 20 years, Xinhua reported.

The project, which includes the construction of five pressurized water reactors, is still awaiting regulatory approval.

The high temperature gas-cooled reactor to be used in the Shidao Bay project, developed by Beijing’s Tsinghua University, will have features that will allow it to safely shut down during emergencies without causing the core of the reactor to melt down or a “massive leakage” of radioactive material, Xinhua said, citing the statement from Huaneng Shandong Shidao.

For more.