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China gears up civilian nuclear power

(Agencies/China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-09 10:51

"At present it's pretty hard for our building and design equipment to meet China's own development needs, so in terms of going overseas, it's not a big target for us," says an industry source close to the government who declines to be named.

China sees nuclear plants as a partial answer for its mounting pollution and energy security problems, although China's electricity use is growing so fast that even after the breakneck expansion nuclear will provide about 5 percent of its power.

The speed of the expansion is tying China to the second-generation models that have faced teething troubles rather than the safer third-generation plants it has begun buying.

"The majority of plants started before 2013 will be that model because China is quite familiar with it," the industry expert says.

But there is no shortage of bidders. Ambitious managers at all the country's big five listed power companies want to join the sector, once the preserve of two State-owned firms.

The country's second-largest listed electricity producer, Datang International Power Generation Co Ltd has already invested in the Ningde plan in southeastern Fujian province, with the first reactor due to come on line in 2012.

Nuclear is attractive because it diversifies their generating mix, adding a type of plant with a relatively predictable operating margin because fuel is such a small portion of costs.

Business in China

Despite its desire for a speedy expansion, China's focus on developing domestic technology means firms like Westinghouse and Areva are unlikely to repeat deals for entire plants.

But they will be rewarded for handing over some of their secrets by an ongoing stream of smaller deals for parts that Chinese companies are not yet able to manufacture, or cannot produce on a large scale.

"In the future, I see a two-way flow of business. There will not be so many sales of big third-generation plants but equipment sales to China will be good," Lewiner says.

"In the other direction Western firms will be re-exporting from China nuclear equipment and sharing skills," she added.

Another area where France's Areva looks set to pick up steady business in China is reprocessing nuclear waste.

"Fuel manufacturing and reprocessing of used fuel are areas where China needs Western technology, because they cannot do this on an industrial scale," she says.

 

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