China Confirms Plans For USD 175 Billion Nuclear Park

China Confirms Plans For USD 175 Billion Nuclear Park

31 Aug (NucNet): The county of Haiyan on the east coast of Zhejiang province in China has been chosen to host a nuclear energy industrial park to help with the country’s ambitious development of its nuclear power industry.

The conceptual design for the 130-square-kilometre Haiyan Nuclear City has been completed in Beijing. The city, which will cover about a quarter of the area of Haiyan County, will have four main areas: nuclear power equipment manufacturing; nuclear training and education; applied nuclear science industries (medical, agricultural, radiation detection and tracing); and promotion of the nuclear industry. China is expected to invest roughly 175 billion US dollars (USD) (137 billion euro) over the next 10 years to develop the nuclear city. The project will benefit from tax incentives and subsidies from the local government. The city offers logistics services to enterprises that set up there, with transportation, logistics distribution and delivery, and freight forwarding. There are five reactor units already in commercial operation in Zhejiang province and six under construction Of those six, Qinshan 2-3 was connected to the grid on 1 August 2010 and is due to begin commercial operation early next year. Earlier this year, the Zhejiang government and China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) signed a “strategic energy cooperation agreement,” which formally binds the two groups in developing the site. Last month, local and provincial officials approved the project and location, allowing preliminary engineering and construction work to begin. Six CNNC businesses will be located at the Nuclear City: CNNC Nuclear Power Operations, CNNC Nuclear Power Technical Support & Services Co, CNNC Nuclear Power Commissioning Centre, CNNC Nuclear Power Training Centre, CNNC Nuclear Power Communication and Exhibition Centre, and CNNC Nuclear Power Stocks & Spare Parts Centre. In addition, the headquarters of 18 leading Chinese nuclear equipment suppliers are based in Haiyan, which is about 100 kilometres southwest of Shanghai, as are branch offices of the major Chinese nuclear design institutes and construction companies. The plan is for the project to attract other related nuclear businesses such as radiation technology services, nuclear material inspection and testing accreditation services. Haiyan’s location along the Yangtze Delta serves as a strategic position to build a hub of nuclear reactors along the coastline, which is a part of China’s nuclear power construction plan. China’s nuclear energy industry is the world’s fastest-growing, with 23 nuclear plants under construction.