PHOTO
China said in its 2021-2025 five-year plan released onFriday that it would raise total nuclear capacity to 70gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2025. Capacity reached 51 GW at theend of last year, falling short of its 58 GW target.
But Luo Qi, an expert with China's Atomic Energy ResearchInstitute and member of parliament's advisory second chamber,warned that current targets did not match the country's climateambitions, and construction should be stepped up.
"By 2035, nuclear plants in operation should reach around180 gigawatts, amounting to 5% of total capacity," he said in aproposal published by the state-owned China National NuclearCorporation (CNNC).
Gu Jun, CNNC's president and member of the National People'sCongress, said the company was pushing for the "accelerateddevelopment" of the sector and the "bulk construction" ofChina's homegrown reactor design, known as the Hualong One.
China's first Hualong One was completed and connected to thegrid last year, and according to industry officials, at leastsix new units should be commissioned every year to benefit fromeconomies of scale.
The country's nuclear sector has been hit by longconstruction delays at high-profile projects, concerns overcosts and a slowdown in new approvals following the 2011Fukushima disaster in Japan.
China's energy regulator acknowledged in January thatconcerns about "quality management" needed to be addressed,noting that some reactor projects had been launched withoutadequate preparation.
Other experts attending parliament said China needed toimprove communications with the public about the safety ofnuclear power, and should also promote the use of nuclear powerin residential heating, CNNC said.
(Reporting by David Stanway; editing by Richard Pullin) ((david.stanway@thomsonreuters.com; +86 21 2083 0066;))
