Published: Dec 3, 2010
China has reportedly raised its target for the construction of new nuclear reactor to 114 GW by 2020, a 62.8 per cent rise on an earlier target of 70 GW.
The figures released by the National Development & Reform Commission represent a significant increase from a prior target of 70 GW issued last May by Zhang Guobao, head of China’s National Energy Administration, according to an American Nuclear Society blog.
Reuters reported that the China Nuclear Energy Association, headed by Zhao Chenkun, said that the 70 GW target is too low. China currently has a reported 23 reactors under construction and another 140 on drawing boards in various stages of readiness to proceed. Chinese nuclear energy officials, however, later said that 80 GWe was a more likely target.
According to the China Daily, Geng Zhicheng, a spokesman for the commission, told a nuclear energy conference in Beijing that if this target (114 GW) is met, nuclear power will account for just 7 per cent of the nation’s estimated need for 1600 GW of power by 2020.
According to Steve Kidd, of the World Nuclear Association, speaking at the same conference, China has targeted increasing total non-fossil energy to 15 per cent of the total by 2020.
http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/display/articledisplay/5022274998/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/reactors/2010/12/china-raises_2020.html
