China Civilian Nuclear Industry, Technology, Exports and Supply Chain: News & Discussions

[Aepsilons]

A beauty which has no value in military terms. She has never sailed more than a 1000 NM from Port. Ha after 20 years she is still to be even declared operational for combat. she will be good target practice for the USN. Take Taiwan militarily before planting a nuclear ship of the US Seaboard.

Why do you underesimate them? China's rise and relative success these past 20 years should be used as case to repudiate apprehensions of the Chinese ability. The Liaoning is , ultimately, a training carrier for their navy. True to naval tradition, the PLAN will seek to perform and perfect carrier systems and support systems before it will ever mobilize her CBG ashore. Besides, China, unlike the United States and other Western peerage , is not a historically interventionist state. They seek calm, growth, regional development as a tool to project Chinese influence abroad. Its part of the East Asian tendency for pro-development, progressive pathways over hostile interventionism that has characterized American and Western organizational political systems these past 2 centuries.

Ultimately, it is unwise to underestimate the Chinese. They , to a larger degree, are similar to Japanese spirit of dedication, tenacity, and silent self-improvement. Perfection is the ultimate goal.

@cnleio , have any more information on this?

 

[beijingwalker]

China's Nuclear Industry Goes Global
By Jost Wübbeke and Guan Ting
February 11, 2016
A European nuclear plant built and operated by China? Unimaginable, one might say, as China still has to prove to be a reliable partner in operating critical infrastructure, meeting strict safety requirements, and managing the complex technology. Yet, nuclear reactors are about to be built with Chinese participation in the United Kingdom. And that is just the beginning. Chinese power corporations are initiating new projects all over the globe and have the potential to become the next big civil nuclear technology suppliers for several countries (see the map below). As this trend is assuming shape, the next decade will be critical to ensure that Chinese technology is safe and that China adheres to non-proliferation agreements.

China’s nuclear energy strategy

There is a strong desire among Chinese leaders to base future economic growth on innovation and to become a global supplier of high-tech commodities “created in China.” The objective is to seize strategic industries — photovoltaics, high-speed railways, computer chips and the like – and their global markets. The “One Belt, One Road” strategy is intended to shape global economic integration and trade by Chinese terms, advancing nuclear technology as one of China’s new high-tech export brands, as railways before. The business opportunities are tremendous, as building one nuclear power plant equals the value of several hundred thousand car exports.

Acting as salesmen, China’s leaders use any possible state visit to negotiate new nuclear deals, for which they promise generous financial backing. At home, everything has been in preparation for the “going out” years ahead. On basis of foreign technology and own original research, China has developed its own third generation reactors. The advanced reactors Hualong-1, CAP1400, and a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor design (HTR) are supposed to conquer international markets. To achieve that, the government is coping with combining the design development and global activities of the vigorously competing nuclear corporations.

China’s nuclear export ambitions coincide with an increase in market opportunities. As if the Fukushima incident did not happen, nuclear power is developing rapidly as countries around the world seek energy security and low-carbon power generation. And China wants a slice of that pie. However, China is fighting an uphill battle in a global nuclear market divided among the well-tested technologies of Canada, France, Russia, South Korea, and the United States. As Chinese home-grown technology does not yet enjoy a comparable reputation, the entry point for Chinese companies are projects that use foreign-built reactors, but use Chinese money and construction expertise.

China’s most recent nuclear projects around the globe fit into this pattern. In October 2015, China General Nuclear (CGN), one of the country’s three large nuclear enterprises, agreed with Électricité de France (EDF) to jointly invest in, construct, and operate two nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point C, United Kingdom. The reactor design is provided by EDF. Similarly, CGN and its largest domestic rival China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) entered into agreements with Romania and Argentina to build Canadian designed CANDU-6 reactors.

All this is only the first step. These projects are intended to create overseas experience for the Chinese companies and build trust among current and potential customers. Ultimately, China seeks to sell its own reactor designs, especially the Hualong-1 and CAP1400. This strategy seems to have bright prospects for success.

The nuclear enterprises base additional Hualong-1 projects on preceding projects with foreign technology. The deal with EDF to build the reactors at Hinkley Point C also includes an agreement to collaborate towards constructing a Hualong-1 reactor at Bradwell. The UK government has yet to make a decision on the project. The Argentinian government already agreed to build a Hualong-1 at the Atucha site in Buenos Aires province.

China’s third largest nuclear enterprise, the State Power Investment Cooperation (SPIC), is in negotiations with the Turkish government about the construction of two CAP1400 reactors. CNNC’s most advanced projects are in Pakistan, with two Chinese small-sized reactors already in operation and two more under construction. In August 2015, the first Chinese overseas construction project for Hualong-1 started in Karachi.

How can China enter a market dominated by others for decades? Chinese firms offer a complete package including state of the art technology, financing, and construction services. With 30 nuclear plants in operation and 21 under construction at home, China has gathered plenty of knowledge about how to build and run a plant. In addition, the government supports the oversea projects with generous concessional loans (see table).

Table: Funding of Chinese banks for global activities of nuclear enterprises. CNEG = China Nuclear Engineering Group.

With these resources, the nuclear enterprises are able to initiate and revive projects that had previously stalled due to financial shortfalls. Before the participation of CGN, the Hinkley Point C projects ran out of funds despite a U.K. government loan guarantee of 2 billion pounds. Similarly, the Cernavoda project in Romania was on the verge of failure before when GDF Suez, CEZ and RWE, and other major shareholders withdrew from the project.

Safety and non-proliferation concerns

Nuclear power is never going to be 100 percent safe, but with its untested technology, China’s nuclear industry is under particular pressure to prove its reliability. Xing Ji, the chief designer of Hualong-1, claims that the reactor is among the safest in the world. However, China itself just began building its own demonstration projects for Hualong-1 in Fujian and Guangxi. Every future foreign project that might deploy technologies developed in China, and in particular the Karachi project in Pakistan already under construction, will be an adventurous experiment.

It will be essential for China to convince its prospective customers of its technology. In this regard, it made a step forward as the Hualong-1 passed the IAEA’s Generic Reactor Safety Review in December 2014. However, the greatest challenge will be to pass the European Utilities Review and similar procedures in the United Kingdom. This will not only take approximately five years and a lot of funding, but also put the reactor design through thorough examinations. If the Hualong-1 can obtain these core approvals, it will experience a real boost on global markets. The results of these assessments will critically decide the success of Chinese overseas ambitions. The assessments will have to be very strict, in order to avoid any possibility of a Chinese reactor experiencing a negative incident in Europe or anywhere else.

Chinese-built reactors in countries with a mature nuclear regulatory framework will hopefully be as safe as the existing reactors in these countries. However, Chinese nuclear enterprises also try to tap markets without much previous nuclear experience such as Kenya, Jordan, and Algeria. Chinese nuclear regulators, already grappling to supervise the rapid domestic nuclear build-up, will hardly be able to ensure the safety standards of exported nuclear equipment. China’s future customers will likely also have insufficient regulatory regimes to assess the safety implications of nuclear projects.

China will also face pressure to comply with non-proliferation regimes as it expands its nuclear energy trade. In Pakistan, China has the most favorable conditions for testing its technology abroad, and no competition from other suppliers. Pakistan is currently the most important buyer of China’s home-grown nuclear technology. For the CNNC, which builds these reactors, its Pakistan activities are central for its global strategy.

However, these deals may undermine global regimes intended to control the spread of nuclear weapons-related materials and technologies. The Nuclear Suppliers Group, which unites the most important supplier countries of nuclear technology, prohibits the supply of nuclear equipment to non-signatories of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons such as Pakistan. China is undermining this rule with its activities at the Chashma and Karachi sites. These engagements can further aggravate the security situation in Southern Asia.

Thirty years from now, we will possibly see dozens of reactors outside of China built by Chinese companies and possibly even using Chinese designs. It is therefore of the highest interest for both China and its foreign customers to make sure that the technology is safe. The experiences with the demonstration projects of Hualong-1 in Fujian and Guangxi may decide China’s success in the global market.

If Chinese technology turns out not to be safe, international customers may refuse to buy Chinese technology despite the fact that it will be offered with generous financial support. China has a lot homework to do if it really wants to become a major global supplier of nuclear technology. A pivotal step to demonstrating the reliability of the technology is a more transparent nuclear industry and safety regime within China itself.

China’s Nuclear Industry Goes Global | The Diplomat

 

[cirr]

China Could Have an Advanced Nuclear Reactor Next Year

Two high-temperature, gas-cooled reactors under construction in Shandong will make up the first commercial-scale plant of its type in the world.

By Richard Martin

February 11, 2016

In what would be a milestone for advanced nuclear power, China’s Nuclear Engineering Construction Corporation plans to start up a high-temperature, gas-cooled pebble-bed nuclear reactor in Shandong province, south of Beijing, late next year. Examples of the so-called Generation IV reactors that go beyond today’s conventional reactor technology, the twin 105-megawatt reactors would be the first of their type built at commercial scale in the world.

Construction of the plant is nearly complete, and the next 18 months will be spent installing the reactor components, running tests, and loading the fuel before the reactors go critical in November 2017, said Zhang Zuoyi, director of the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, a division of Tsinghua University that has developed the technology over the last decade and a half, in an interview at the institute’s campus 30 miles south of Beijing. If it’s successful, the 210-megawatt plant in Shandong will be followed by a 600-megawatt facility in Jiangxi province. Beyond that, China plans to sell these reactors internationally; in January, Chinese president Xi Jinping signed an agreement with King Salman bin Abdulaziz to construct a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor in Saudi Arabia.

“This technology is going to be on the world market within the next five years,” Zhang predicts. “We are developing these reactors to belong to the world.”

Pebble-bed reactors that use helium gas as the heat transfer medium and run at very high temperatures—up to 950 °C—have been in development for decades. The Chinese reactor is based on a design originally developed in Germany, and the German company SGL Group is supplying the billiard-ball-size graphite spheres that encase thousands of tiny “pebbles” of uranium fuel. Seven high-temperature gas-cooled reactors have been built, but only two units remain in operation, both relatively small: an experimental 10-megawatt pebble-bed reactor at the Tsinghua Institute campus, which reached full power in 2003, and a similar reactor in Japan.

During a recent visit to the Tsinghua facility, technologists were testing the huge helium blower that will circulate the gas coolant at the Shandong site once it starts up. Such high-temperature reactors are immune to meltdown because they don’t require elaborate external cooling systems of the sort that failed at Fukushima, Japan, in 2011. The graphite coating protects the fuel from breaking down, even at temperatures well beyond those found in the reactor core during operation, and once the interior temperature passes a certain threshold, the nuclear reactions slow, cooling the reactor and making it essentially self-regulating. And while pebble-bed reactors do not totally solve the problem of nuclear waste, the fuel’s form also gives rise to multiple options for waste disposal. China’s eventual goal is to eliminate or greatly reduce waste by recycling the spent fuel.

One of the main hurdles to building these reactors is the cost of the fuel and of the reactor components. But China’s sheer size could help overcome that barrier. “There have been studies that indicate that if reactors are mass-produced, they can drive down costs,” says Charles Forsberg, executive director of the MIT Nuclear Fuel Cycle Project. “The Chinese market is large enough to make that potentially possible.”

Several other advanced-reactor projects are under way in China, including work on a molten-salt reactor fueled by thorium rather than uranium (a collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where the technology originated in the 1960s), a traveling-wave reactor (in collaboration with TerraPower, the startup funded by Bill Gates), and a sodium-cooled fast reactor being built by the Chinese Institute for Atomic Energy (see “China Details Next-Gen Nuclear Reactor Program” and “TerraPower Quietly Explores New Nuclear Reactor Strategy”).

Indeed, China is rapidly becoming a test bed for innovative nuclear power technologies that have stalled in the United States and Europe. “What you are seeing is serious intent,” says Forsberg. “They may kick greenhouse gases out of their power sector before we do because of that serious intent.”

China Could Have an Advanced Nuclear Reactor Next Year

 

[cirr]

Chinese team makes unexpected fusion breakthrough

09 FEBRUARY 16 by MICHAEL RUNDLE

[URL='http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2016-02/09/china-fusion-breakthrough/viewgallery/625056']
Researchers at the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) said they were able to heat hydrogen to nearly three times the temperature at the core of the Sun, and keep it there for 102 seconds. Institute of Physical Science[/URL]

The march to sustainable nuclear fusion appears to have made serious progress, after a Chinese research group said it sustained a superheated plasma gas at 49.99 million degrees C for more than a minute.

Researchers at the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) said they were able to heat the gas to nearly three times the temperature at the core of the Sun, and keep it there for 102 seconds.

The experiment involved using a ring-shaped reactor at the Institute of Physical Science in Hefei, China, to heat up and control hydrogen gas to extreme temperatures, and hold it in place away from the walls of the ring using high-powered magnets.

Doing this is extremely difficult, and previous experiments have only managed to do so for less than a minute, at most. The Chinese team have been able, it seems, to demonstrate new techniques for increasing that time significantly, and hope to increase even that record by a factor of 10 in the next few years.

In itself the process demonstrated by the EAST team does not generate power, but it is regarded as a critical technical piece in the puzzle. Nuclear fusion would involve using massive amounts of energy to creation a fusion reaction, and sustaining that reaction for long enough to get more energy out than was put in at the start. Doing so requires controlling the hydrogen plasma, which is the Chinese team's goal.

The implications of true nuclear fusion remain extraordinary; the ultimate goal is a new form of clean, cheap, sustainable nuclear power, which would not require the use of extremely rare elements. In theory it would represent an escape from the reliance on fossil fuels and older, more dangerous and dirty nuclear fission technology.


Scientists at the Max Planck Institute were able to use their Greifswald machine to heat hydrogen to 100 million degrees K for a short period, they announced last week.

STEFAN SAUER/AFP/Getty Images
The Chinese breakthrough comes less than a week after a team at the Max Planck Institute in Greifswald, Germany, were able to heat hydrogen to even more intense temperatures -- up to 100 million degrees C -- but for much shorter periods of time. The German government has dedicated more than £1 billion to the search for nuclear fusion, even while the ultimate goal is still seen as being decades away.

In terms of raw temperatures, 50 million degrees C is a mere mild breeze. The hottest-ever man-made temperature -- and as far as we know, the hottest spot in the universe -- reached 5.5 trillion degrees C, and was created in 2012 inside the Large Hadron Collider. While only sustained for a fraction of a second, that experiment was enough to smash particles apart and create quark-gluon plasma, an exotic form of matter that existed immediately after the Big Bang.

According to the South China Morning Post, the Chinese team at EAST said their new record was still below their own targets, which is to sustain a temperature of around 100 million degrees C for 1,000 seconds. Doing so would be an astonishing achievement, though would still leave humanity years away from a commercially viable fusion solution.

Fortunately, there is international collaboration -- chaotic, but real -- on fusion as well as competition: China is a member of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project, currently under construction in France, which aims at producing a reactor capable of 500 megawatts of fusion output for 400 seconds. The EAST team has said their data could be of use for that effort, though it may still be decades away from completion.

Nuclear fusion: Chinese team makes breakthrough (Wired UK)

 

[xunzi]

We need to destroy the notion that nothing is impossible. With energy sufficiency, the sky is the limit. In the next 50 years, we should be able to field a viable commercial fusion and this will end the oil war being wage around the world by our US partner.

 

[Always Neutral]

Whoa, slow down there, buddy.

As far as the Chinese are concerned, the Liaoning is but a training ship for their navy, i.e., a vessel designed to transition their aircrew and sailors into the practice of operating a functioning aircraft carrier. She was never slated to be a combat vessel to begin with; the equipment aboard and operations undertaken thus far by the carrier is indicative of this. Granted, the carrier is fully combat-capable, but I highly doubt that the Chinese view the Liaoning the same way the USN views any one of their own CBGs.

Do you even bother to read to whom i posted it too? The fanboy claimed Liaoning was operational which as somebody in the Defence Industry I know it is not. You have rightly pointed out that this is the Chinese Navy's attempt to develop CBG future strategy and till we see its successful implementation in maritime ops we can just wait and watch. Only two Navies have fully developed the same and utilized it in War after the World War. The USN and the RN. Today USN is the boss. Two Navies have demonstrated part capabilities that is the French Navy and the Indian Navy. None of the other Navies are capable of boasting about it. Even the Russian capability has never been tested though I suspect they are just below the Royal Navy.

 

[Dragon Emperor]

Fusion reactor can power colony ships to Mars.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

We need to destroy the notion that nothing is impossible. With energy sufficiency, the sky is the limit. In the next 50 years, we should be able to field a viable commercial fusion and this will end the oil war being wage around the world by our US partner.

alot of things are impossible. That is why research money is funneled to certain projects. The key to success is to identify which areas will pay off the most. Remember that we are actually nearing alot of physical limits right now.

 

[xunzi]

alot of things are impossible. That is why research money is funneled to certain projects. The key to success is to identify which areas will pay off the most. Remember that we are actually nearing alot of physical limits right now.

Nothing is impossible without the trial and error. The belief that there is a limitation will doom the evolution of mankind.

This is why we must pursue nuclear energy at any cost. We must dominate in this area for the our future generation to compete.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

Nothing is impossible without the trial and error. The belief that there is a limitation will doom the evolution of mankind.

This is why we must pursue nuclear energy at any cost. We must dominate in this area for the our future generation to compete.

belief doesn't change the fact that thermodynamics and solid state physics just doesn't allow certain things.

 

[xunzi]

belief doesn't change the fact that thermodynamics and solid state physics just doesn't allow certain things.

It has little to do with fusion. In fact, what we learn about the universe and the known matter that shape the technology we used today is about 5%. There is still enough amount of information that we haven't discover. Each of these discovered will lead to new possibilities. It is this reason that we must strive to pursuit any possibilities. Belief in limitation on the physical boundary is not the type you would expect from a scientific powerhouse. You may be right that we need to put more fund into practical research but make no mistake about it, theoretical science worth as much as applied science. It paves the ways for understanding how science works.

 

[TaiShang]

China plans 30 overseas nuclear power units by 2030
Xinhua, March 1, 2016

China aims to build 30 nuclear power units in countries involved with the Belt and Road Initiative by 2030, Sun Qin, president of China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC), said Tuesday.

The CNNC has reached bilateral agreements on nuclear energy cooperation with countries including Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Britain, France and Jordan, Sun said.

More than 70 countries are now planning or are already developing their own nuclear power projects, and it is estimated 130 more nuclear power units will have been built by 2020, Sun said.

The CNNC is willing to cooperate with countries throughout the whole nuclear power industry chain. It will actively promote localization of the technology and strive to establish an integrated industrial system for countries involved with the Belt and Road Initiative, Sun said.

Currently China has 30 nuclear power generating units with a capacity of 28 million gw and another 24 units are under construction, all of which are on land.

 

[oprih]

With Chinese proven expertise when it comes to building, designing and managing nuclear power plants, I'm sure more countries will want to cooperate with China when it comes to this department.

 

[TaiShang]

With Chinese proven expertise when it comes to building, designing and managing nuclear power plants, I'm sure more countries will want to cooperate with China when it comes to this department.

I believe with AIIB and BRICS Bank on the line, China has a good chance to surpass the target number much earlier. This year is the year of OBOR. We will see lots of development.

 

[Shotgunner51]

I believe with AIIB and BRICS Bank on the line, China has a good chance to surpass the target number much earlier. This year is the year of OBOR. We will see lots of development.

Industrial Exports !!!

The global market is now third gen, very competitive. The biggest competitor for CGN is Toshiba-Westinghouse from Japan, followed by Areva from France and KHNP from South Korea. Rosatom from Russia is also very active.

Despite fierce competition, CGN-CNNC has confidence in offering a comprehensive “one-stop shop” for nuclear power needs - from design to construction, financing, fuel supply, waste management and other services. “If you choose the HPR1000, it’s like you’re joining a big family” said Yang Maochun, a deputy general manager of CGN’s international business department. Source: China ramping up its nuclear industry, with plans for exporting reactors « nuclear-news

@Chinese-Dragon @Nihonjin1051 @Daniel808 @Tiqiu