cirr
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The total value to China of these possible US contracts will be in billions of US dollars。Plus the deal in the UK and the South Africa projects for which China will make strong bids with advanced technology and competitive financing etc, future revenues could accrue to tens, even hundreds, of billions of dollars. 
October 30, 2013 2:30 pm
China set to supply components to US nuclear power plants
By Lucy Hornby in Beijing and Ed Crooks in New York
China is likely to supply components to US nuclear power plants under construction as part of a bilateral co-operation agreement between the two countries, according to Ernest Moniz, the US energy secretary.
The reactors in Georgia and South Carolina are the first US nuclear plants to be built since the accident at the Three Mile Island plant in 1979. But China’s massive nuclear power expansion in recent years – which at its height saw construction begin on a new reactor every few months – means it has a manufacturing supply chain capable of supplying international power projects.
The new US reactors use Westinghouse’s AP1000 design, as do four Chinese reactors under construction, allowing economies of scale in sourcing components. Westinghouse, now owned by Toshiba, transferred the AP1000 technology to China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Co in 2006.
“It’s fundamentally the same generation III technology that is being applied to the four plants now in China, and those four plants in the southeastern United States,” said Mr Moniz in Beijing on Wednesday.
“To the extent to which the companies jointly develop the design basis and the supply chains, that’s going to be implemented in both countries.”
The co-operation could lead to Westinghouse, SNPTC and China National Nuclear Corp teaming up to tender for a UK nuclear project, Mr Moniz said. China’s other major nuclear company, China General Nuclear Power, has agreed to partner France’s EDF in a deal to build the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant in the UK.
Mr Moniz was in China for the start of construction work at the Center of Excellence on Nuclear Security, a bilateral project designed to help train Chinese technicians in operational safety. China’s rapid nuclear power expansion has left it with a shortage of experienced operational staff.
The joint venture between Westinghouse and SNPTC is a channel to source components for Westinghouse’s global projects, Chinese nuclear power executives told the Financial Times.
Specific components have not yet been identified for export, but possibilities include pressure vessels, steam generators and reactor coolant pipes. China is already a source of components for thermal power plants around the world.
Westinghouse did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The four new reactors being built in the US are being closely watched as indicators of the future of the country’s nuclear industry.
Nuclear power has come under severe economic pressure as a result of competition from plants burning cheap gas unlocked by the shale revolution, and US generators have generally been delaying or abandoning plans for new reactors.
The first project scheduled to be completed is at Vogtle in Georgia, where a consortium led by Southern Company, one of the largest US utilities, is building two AP1000s, scheduled to be completed in 2017 and 2018 at a total cost estimated at $14bn.
The project has been offered an $8.3bn loan guarantee from the federal government, and is in negotiations about final terms. Its economics are also underpinned by selling the power in a regulated market, where it will be able to pass on most of its costs on to consumers.
As the project’s costs have risen, however, the consortium has been in negotiations with regulators about whether it will be able to pass on the overruns, and the uncertainty about future decisions creates an incentive to hold costs down as far as is possible.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e8a83158-4164-11e3-9073-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2jS0mqT79
October 30, 2013 2:30 pm
China set to supply components to US nuclear power plants
By Lucy Hornby in Beijing and Ed Crooks in New York
China is likely to supply components to US nuclear power plants under construction as part of a bilateral co-operation agreement between the two countries, according to Ernest Moniz, the US energy secretary.
The reactors in Georgia and South Carolina are the first US nuclear plants to be built since the accident at the Three Mile Island plant in 1979. But China’s massive nuclear power expansion in recent years – which at its height saw construction begin on a new reactor every few months – means it has a manufacturing supply chain capable of supplying international power projects.
The new US reactors use Westinghouse’s AP1000 design, as do four Chinese reactors under construction, allowing economies of scale in sourcing components. Westinghouse, now owned by Toshiba, transferred the AP1000 technology to China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Co in 2006.
“It’s fundamentally the same generation III technology that is being applied to the four plants now in China, and those four plants in the southeastern United States,” said Mr Moniz in Beijing on Wednesday.
“To the extent to which the companies jointly develop the design basis and the supply chains, that’s going to be implemented in both countries.”
The co-operation could lead to Westinghouse, SNPTC and China National Nuclear Corp teaming up to tender for a UK nuclear project, Mr Moniz said. China’s other major nuclear company, China General Nuclear Power, has agreed to partner France’s EDF in a deal to build the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant in the UK.
Mr Moniz was in China for the start of construction work at the Center of Excellence on Nuclear Security, a bilateral project designed to help train Chinese technicians in operational safety. China’s rapid nuclear power expansion has left it with a shortage of experienced operational staff.
The joint venture between Westinghouse and SNPTC is a channel to source components for Westinghouse’s global projects, Chinese nuclear power executives told the Financial Times.
Specific components have not yet been identified for export, but possibilities include pressure vessels, steam generators and reactor coolant pipes. China is already a source of components for thermal power plants around the world.
Westinghouse did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The four new reactors being built in the US are being closely watched as indicators of the future of the country’s nuclear industry.
Nuclear power has come under severe economic pressure as a result of competition from plants burning cheap gas unlocked by the shale revolution, and US generators have generally been delaying or abandoning plans for new reactors.
The first project scheduled to be completed is at Vogtle in Georgia, where a consortium led by Southern Company, one of the largest US utilities, is building two AP1000s, scheduled to be completed in 2017 and 2018 at a total cost estimated at $14bn.
The project has been offered an $8.3bn loan guarantee from the federal government, and is in negotiations about final terms. Its economics are also underpinned by selling the power in a regulated market, where it will be able to pass on most of its costs on to consumers.
As the project’s costs have risen, however, the consortium has been in negotiations with regulators about whether it will be able to pass on the overruns, and the uncertainty about future decisions creates an incentive to hold costs down as far as is possible.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e8a83158-4164-11e3-9073-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2jS0mqT79
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