China's State Nuclear Power Technology Corp. Ltd. (SNPTC) and China National Technical Import and Export Corp. signed deals Tuesday with the U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric Co. to build four nuclear power plants in China and transfer core technologies for third-generation AP1000 reactors.
"The signing of these contracts is a great achievement in international nuclear industrial cooperation," said Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan when addressing the signing ceremony.
"It will help promote China's nuclear industry and bilateral cooperation in the energy and trade sectors and meanwhile will contribute to the development of the world's nuclear industry," Zeng said.
The vice premier stressed the importance of security and quality of nuclear power projects and urged the companies from both sides to fully implement the contracts.
It was not disclosed how much money was involved.
The first reactor adopting the third-generation AP1000 technologies would be built in Sanmen of east China's Zhejiang Province and put into commercial operation at the end of 2013, said Wang Binghua, board chairman of the SNPTC.
"It will also be the first nuclear station using the AP1000 technologies in the world," said Wang, adding that new reactors would also be built in Haiyang of east China's Shandong Province.
The AP1000 technologies are superior to previous ones because they uses less cable, piping and valves, cutting costs and reducing the need for large cooling towers and other equipment. It also increases safety by using gravity instead of mechanical pumps to deliver cooling water to the reactor in an emergency, according to technicians.
China now has 11 nuclear reactors in operation. The nation's installed capacity of nuclear power stands at 8 million kilowatts, accounting for merely one percent of the total installed capacity of electric power, lagging far behind the world's average level.
These operating reactors were built based on second-generation technologies. Three were built with Chinese technology, others used Russian, French and Canadian technologies.
China is expected to have an installed nuclear power capacity of 40 million kilowatts by 2020, accounting for four percent of the nation's total installed capacity in a bid to meet growing power demands and cutting emissions.
China is the world's second-largest power consumer after the United States. The nation used more than 590.78 million tons of raw coal to generate power in the first half of this year, up nearly 18 percent year-on-year, according to China Electricity Council.
Experts said developing nuclear power projects would relieve the nation's reliance on coal to generate power and reduce the cost of power generation.
By introducing advanced technologies from other countries, China will gradually be able to develop its own technologies to raise the productivity of the nation's nuclear power industry, said experts.
China began inviting public bidding for the third generation nuclear power self-reliance program supporting projects in 2003. The US company joined the competitive bidding with French and Russian companies in 2005.
In December 2006, China and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding for Westinghouse Electric Co. to provide technology for four nuclear power units to be built in China.
China's nuclear power industry started in the 1970s. Nuclear power now accounts for more than 13 percent of the power generating capacity in eastern Zhejiang Province and southern Guangdong Province.
