Power group: China lowering nuclear target
BEIJING (AP) — China's government has made changes in its policy on nuclear power that likely will result in a scaling back of ambitious plans for building new plants, an industry official said in comments reported Tuesday by state media.
The announcement came as Japan struggles to control a nuclear plant that was crippled by an earthquake and tsunami earlier this month but there was no announcement that the change was prompted by that disaster.
Beijing is promoting nuclear power to curb surging demand for oil and gas, but analysts say the industry's rapid growth is straining China's ability to supply equipment and technicians.
Recent policy changes are likely to result in a reduction of about 10 gigawatts in nuclear generating capacity from the 90 gigawatts previously expected to be built by 2020, said the deputy director of the China Electricity Council, Wei Zhaofeng, according to newspapers.
Government plans called for nuclear to supply up to 5 percent of China's power by 2020 but Wei said that was likely to be closer to 3 percent due to the policy changes. The reports by the China Business News, China Daily and other newspapers gave no details of the changes.
Employees who answered the phone at the CEC, the group for China's power utilities, declined to confirm Wei made the comments or give any details or their names.
The communist government is in the midst of finalizing a blueprint for nuclear power development over the next five years and Tuesday's reports suggested officials might be more conservative after a decade of aggressively expanding the industry.
The Cabinet suspended new approvals for nuclear plants just five days after the March 11 disaster in Japan. But the nuclear safety director of China's Environmental Protection Ministry, Tian Jiashu, said in a statement Saturday the government had faith in its technology and would go ahead with expansion plans.
Wei said China should "pay a high degree of attention to nuclear power safety" in light of the Japanese disaster, according to the China Business News.
The Japanese disaster might prompt Chinese officials to be more conservative about their nuclear plans but the technology still will play a key role in energy plans, said Xianfang Ren, China economist for IHS Global Insight.
"The country has basically been at its top capacity building nuclear power plants in the past few years, which is causing shortage in supply of nuclear equipment and technicians," said Ren in a report.
"There is a likelihood that policymakers may take a more conservative approach in the short term, taking into account both the safety issue and the supply constraint for nuclear power plant equipment and technicians."
China currently has 13 nuclear reactors that provide about 10 gigawatts of generating capacity and plans call for expanding that to about 40 gigawatts by 2015. If the government sticks to its earlier target for 2020, that would give China the world's biggest installed nuclear generation capacity.
Beijing says it is reviewing safety at China's nuclear plants following the disaster at Japan's Fukushima complex. Few details have been released but state television said last week technicians were assessing safeguards at the coastal Daya Bay nuclear plant north of Hong Kong, including sea walls to shield against a tsunami.
Beijing is promoting nuclear, wind, solar and other alternative energy as part of efforts to curb surging demand for imported oil and gas and to reduce environmental damage from heavy reliance on coal. Its latest economic plan calls for alternative sources to supply at least 11.4 percent of China's power by 2015.
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중국 원자력 발전 목표 수정
베이징 ( AP) - 중국 정부는 일본의 지진과 쓰나미로 파괴된 원전의 영향으로 새로운 원자력 발전소를 건설하려던 야심찬 계획을 축소할 것이라고 한다.
중국 정부는 석유와 가스의존도를 줄이려고 원자력 발전을 계획하고 있으나 필요 자재와 기술 인력의 부족이 애로사항이 되고 있다. 중국 전력 위원회는 2020년 까지 90 기가 와트의 원전 건설 계획을 약 10 기가 와트 감축 할 것으로 관측된다고 발표했다.
정부의 계획에 의하면 2020년 까지 중국 전력 수요의 원자력이 5% 담당할 것으로 예측했으나 정책변경으로 3%로 낮아 질 것으로 나타났다. 중국의 언론 매체는 이 변경문제에 대해서 아무런 언급을 하지 않았다.
중국 정부는 현재 차기 5년간의 핵 발전 능력에 대한 새로운 계획을 마련 중인데 29일의 보도에 의하면 원자력 발전계획에 대해 과거의 공격적인 자세에서 더 신중한 입장으로 선회한 것으로 보인다. 중국 정부의 원전계획 변경은 일본의 사태에 의해 영향을 받은 것이지만 26일 중국은 원자력 발전에 필요한 기술력에 자신감을 피력했다.
중국의 현 원전능력을 현재 13기의 원전에서 10 기가 와트 발전능력을 보유하고 있고 2015년 까지 40기가 와트까지 증설할 계획이다. 정부계획 데로 2020년 까지 원전이 모두 완공되면 세계 제 1의 원전 능력 보유국인 된다.
중국정부는 일본의 지진피해이후 원전 안정성에 대해 재검토를 하고 있으며 TV를 통해서 원전 기술 인력에 의한 안전시설 점검에 관한 보도를 내보냈다. 현재 대체 에너지로 원자력. 풍력, 태양열 개발을 서두르고 있으며 2015년 까지 11.4%의 에너지를 이들 대체 에너지에서 얻을 것을 경제계획에 포함하고 있다.
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