China's nuclear power industry is poised for development this year

In November last year, the State Council issued the “Energy Development Strategic Action Plan (2014~2020)” mentioned that it is necessary to vigorously develop clean energy and achieve a target of 15% of China’s non-fossil energy in primary energy consumption by 2020. . The release of this policy made people pay more attention to the restart of nuclear power projects.

As of 2014, China has stopped approving new nuclear power projects for three years. At the same time, those who are suffering from respiratory distress begin to re-examine the significance of nuclear energy.

In November 2014, the “Energy Development Strategic Action Plan (2014~2020)” issued by the State Council made it clear that it is necessary to adhere to the “saving, cleaning, and safety” strategy and focus on implementing conservation-first, domestic-based, green, low-carbon, and innovation. Drive the four major strategies to speed up the construction of a clean, efficient, safe and sustainable modern energy system.

In order to realize the target of 15% of China's non-fossil energy in primary energy consumption by 2020, clean energy must become the main energy source. The adjustment of energy structure has become increasingly urgent. The restart of nuclear power projects has caused widespread concern and the nuclear power industry faces major development opportunities.

However, whether it is the restart of coastal and inland nuclear power projects or the “going out” and integration of the nuclear power industry, we must all build on the premise of ensuring safety and we must also aim for more secure development. In 2015, the development of China's nuclear power industry is poised to take off and nuclear safety supervision departments are shouldering heavy responsibility.

The road ahead is still far away, and the road to seek is not stopped.

Coastal nuclear power restarts

Li Pumin, secretary general of the National Development and Reform Commission, stated on December 4th, 2014 that China has included coastal nuclear power projects in the national major project construction package. It will adopt the highest international safety standards and start a batch of coastal nuclear power projects on the premise of ensuring safety. This has released a positive signal that our country will soon launch a new nuclear power project in the eastern coastal areas.

“2015 is a crucial year for the realization of China’s nuclear power development target in 2020. China will soon restart the construction of a coastal nuclear power project. The “Strategy Action Plan for Energy Development (2014~2020)” published on November 19, 2014, this It is proposed in the section on the safe development of nuclear power that on the premise of adopting the highest international safety standards and ensuring safety, timely launching new nuclear power project construction and researching and demonstrating inland nuclear power construction in the eastern coastal areas.” Zhao Chengkun, vice chairman of the China Nuclear Energy Industry Association pointed out The plan will once again make it clear that by 2020, the installed nuclear power capacity will reach 58 million kilowatts and the capacity under construction will reach more than 30 million kilowatts.

"Based on this plan, to achieve the target of 58 million kilowatts for 2020, except for the 48.86 million kilowatts of 48 machine assembly machines currently under construction and under construction, nearly 10 million kilowatts are still missing, considering the general nuclear power construction cycle of 5 years to 6 years. In the next two years, nearly 10 million kilowatts of new construction projects must be launched to achieve the 2020 goal. Most of these projects should be started in 2015. Therefore, 2015 is a crucial year for achieving the goals. I believe that as long as we are determined and scientific, It is entirely possible for the decision to achieve the 2020 goal,” said Zhao Chengkun.

For the restart of China's coastal nuclear power projects in 2015, Chai Guohan, chief engineer of the Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, also made it clear that a number of projects can be started. “The meeting of the expert committee of the National Nuclear Safety Administration of Units 5 and 6 of the Hongyanhe River has already passed. Now, waiting for the State Council’s decision, it is certain that construction can begin next year.”

In addition, the introduction of Chai Guohan, as a reactor type with independent intellectual property rights, Fuqing No. 5 and No. 6 generating units using the “Hualong No. 1” technology is also currently stepping up the review of preliminary safety analysis reports. "Actually, there have been two review dialogue sessions so far. There are also technical exchanges on specific topics. After the review, there may be some follow-up work for improvement. It is expected that construction will be agreed next year."

At the same time, he pointed out that since this year's new unit indicators are not used, if the new units approved for construction next year use this year's indicators, then there may be some units that will be on next year, such as AP1000 follow-up projects.

“The Xu Dabao 1 and 2 units, the 3rd and 3rd units of the Haimen, the Haiyang units 3 and 4, and the Lufeng 1 and 2 units may start construction. The nuclear safety review of these projects has continued for a year. In fact, there is no subversive issue from the perspective of nuclear safety review. However, the final decision on whether or not to restart will depend on the country's decision, said Chai Guohan.

He further pointed out that, in fact, for the current AP1000 technology, the main problem is the main pump problem. "If there is a breakthrough in the durability test of the main pump, the follow-up AP1000 project can be completely started."

It is still time for inland nuclear power to restart

With the successive restart of the coastal nuclear power projects, the attitude of the national level on the restart of inland nuclear power has also received increasing attention. Recently, relevant sources from the Energy Development Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission revealed that they have demonstrated whether or not the inland power plant was launched during the “13th Five-Year Plan” period, and “all arguments are nearing completion”.

In 2015, can China's inland nuclear power projects be restarted?

“The relevant documents of the State Council on October 24, 2012 decided that the inland nuclear power plant will not begin construction within three years. According to this provision, the construction of the inland nuclear power plant on October 24, 2015 will not violate the decision of the previous government of the State Council. Chai Guohan said that from the perspective of nuclear safety, there are no major problems in the restart of inland nuclear power plants. In particular, after the Fukushima accident, in accordance with the provisions of the National Nuclear Safety Administration, the safety review of inland nuclear power plants was implemented in accordance with the highest international requirements, and there would be no unacceptable impact on water resources.

Chai Guohan indicated that the restart of inland nuclear power is now mainly a problem of public acceptance, and relevant review arguments and public propaganda work are being done. Therefore, it is unlikely that construction will start next year, but the possibility of starting construction in 2016 is relatively large.

"If inland nuclear power plants start construction in 2016, then related preparatory work such as safety review will be restarted in 2015 because nuclear safety review work usually takes at least a year or so. So, overall, With regard to the restart of inland nuclear power, some preparatory technical review work will be done next year. Both the nuclear safety review and the public communication and propaganda need to be promoted next year, said Chai Guohan.

In this regard, Zhao Chengkun also pointed out that the “Strategic Action Plan for Energy Development (2014~2020)” released a signal that the country puts inland nuclear power construction on the agenda. Inland nuclear power should also be able to meet inland energy demand and improve the environment. make a contribution.

“The current major issue is how to scientifically and rationally formulate safety standards for inland nuclear power and properly address some of the special concerns of inland nuclear power, such as the protection of water resources. The second is how to carry out effective public information and public communication and raise public awareness. The acceptability of nuclear power," said Zhao Chengkun.

Nuclear power industry three points

On December 4th, 2014, in the space of the press conference of the National Development and Reform Commission, Liu Baohua, Director of the Nuclear Power Division of the Energy Administration, stated that the China Power Investment Group (hereinafter referred to as “CLP Investment”) and the State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (hereinafter referred to as “State Nuclear Technology”) The merger plan is "researching." He did not respond to the question of when to complete the merger. However, related news shows that the possible time point is before the Spring Festival.

It is reported that as early as the beginning of 2014, the reorganization and merger intentions of CLP and State Nuclear Technology have already received support from the relevant senior management. In the nuclear power industry integration plan, this is only one of the programs. Later, another integration plan concerning the nuclear power industry was proposed by Peng Shilu and Li Dingfan and other senior leaders of the former nuclear industry to the State Council, after which the nuclear power industry reverted to the "universal reunification" plan.

After several months of competition until the end of 2014, the merger and reorganization of China National Nuclear Power Technology and China National Nuclear Technology Technology Co., Ltd. is advancing research. At this time, the relevant authorities again proposed to emulate the merger scheme of the North-South vehicles, form a nuclear power company, and integrate the overseas operations of various nuclear power companies. Form a consistent external force.

Although the news about the integration of the nuclear power industry is still not clear in the various opinions, relevant news shows that the general direction of the adjustment of the nuclear power industry is clear. Although the current merger and reorganization of China National Power Investment and the nuclear technology can not succeed, the final conclusion can not be reached, but The nuclear power unit plan has been rejected by senior officials.

Then, in 2015 whether the merger of China's nuclear power companies can be settled, and what impact will it have on China's nuclear power industry?

An industry source pointed out that the merger of CPI and national nuclear technology is possible, but the possibility of major unification is extremely small and it is not feasible.

"The merger of CLP and China National Nuclear Technology will help to complement each other. The former is one of China's five largest power generation groups and one of the three major nuclear power operators, and the latter is the transferee of AP1000 nuclear power technology. CLP has its own nuclear power plant but does not have its own design. However, if China’s nuclear technology has its own design but it does not have its own nuclear power plant, once the two are merged, China’s nuclear power industry will form a three-legged situation.” He believes that despite the current unbalanced strength among the major companies, they are three-way. It is beneficial to the overall advancement and development of the nuclear power industry.

In addition, the person pointed out that China's nuclear power industry can also consider allowing other power companies to enter. “There are currently only three companies that have qualifications, but in fact power companies like Huaneng and Datang all want to enter the field of nuclear power. In fact, allowing other power companies to participate in nuclear power construction is more conducive to the development of nuclear power.

Nuclear power still needs to go out

In October 2014, when Premier Li Keqiang met with the Czech President, he encouraged powerful Chinese companies to participate in the expansion and reconstruction of nuclear power facilities in the Czech Republic.

In addition, China intends to participate in the development of the UK nuclear power generation industry. It is expected that after the third-generation nuclear power is mature and the fourth-generation nuclear power technology is rapidly advancing, China's nuclear power equipment will fully possess international competitiveness in the fields of digital instrumentation control systems, key equipment and other nuclear power equipment.

According to the IAEA’s forecast, in addition to China, there will be 60 to 70 sets of nuclear power generating units with a capacity of 1 million kilowatts in the world in the next 10 years, and the overseas nuclear power market will reach 1 trillion yuan. 2015 will be an important year for nuclear power going out.

It is understood that since 2014, the introduction of three-generation nuclear power “Hualong 1” and major special CAP1400 with independent intellectual property rights has made progress.

Then, what are China's expectations for the “going out” of nuclear power in 2015?

Zhao Chengkun said that China's self-developed three-generation nuclear power project “Hualong No. 1” and CAP1400 will start construction in Fuqing, Fujian Province and Shidao Bay, Shandong Province respectively. This will not only improve the technical level of China's nuclear power, but also will actively promote nuclear power going out. main effect.

"The state will further increase its efforts to promote China's nuclear power out of the country. In addition to the start-up construction of 'Hualong 1' and CAP1400 demonstration projects, the relevant state departments and nuclear power companies will further promote the implementation of the UK, Romania, Argentina, South Africa and other countries. The purpose of the nuclear power cooperation project is to promote the participation of China's nuclear power equipment manufacturing and construction and installation enterprises in going out and gradually accumulate experience and create conditions for China’s nuclear power to go global,” said Zhao Chengkun.

But at the same time, he also said that it is still necessary to realize the export of nuclear power.

"A country that wants to export nuclear power must have its own products and it can lead itself. This is a key factor. We currently do not have a technology after the operational test. To export, we must have a complete set of nuclear power, but we have not yet Therefore, to realize the true sense of nuclear power going out, we still do not have the conditions and it will take several years of hard work," said Zhao Chengkun.

Earlier, Zhang Luqing, a nuclear power expert, pointed out that compared with the world's nuclear power exporters, China’s nuclear power “going out” is still in its infancy, and success cases are very limited.

In response, Chai Guohan indicated that neither the CAP1400 nor the “Hualong No. 1” has yet completed demonstration projects at home, so the possibility of “going out” to land next year is not very great. In this case, Going out is also risky.

“At present, we are not prepared enough and have insufficient experience. When we negotiate with other countries, we are also prone to lose. To truly go global, it is imperative that we do a good job of building demonstration projects and accumulate experience. There are successful examples in the country and we will go out. It is just around the corner." Said Chai Guohan.

Nuclear safety culture is deeply rooted

Since the Ministry of Environmental Protection officially launched the promotion of the promotion of nuclear safety culture in August 2014, various activities have been steadily progressing, and the first implementation phase of the implementation of the supervision organization as the main organization has been completed in accordance with the overall requirements. At present, special operations have entered the second implementation stage, which is mainly carried out by license holders.

The first phase of the special action achieved fruitful results. Five plans were released, including the overall plan and implementation plans in four areas; four public mobilization meetings were convened; three job special reports were distributed; two experiences were obtained. Including leaders to take the lead, implementation of the only reality; the formation of an atmosphere, a safety supremacy, pay attention to the nuclear safety culture, learn about nuclear safety culture, practice the atmosphere of nuclear safety culture.

In the first half of 2015, the Ministry of Environmental Protection will further promote the promotion of nuclear safety culture in the nuclear power equipment industry in China. Nuclear and Radiation Safety Supervision Division I and North China Supervision Station shall not only inspect and supervise the publicity work of the license holders, but also plan to comprehensively publicize the daily supervision and inspection work to all key personnel of the holding units and key positions. Continuity. Publicity should not only cover all license holders, but also cover all key personnel, including key management personnel (including team leaders, section chiefs, workshop directors, plant managers, etc.), nuclear quality assurance and quality inspection personnel, processes and design. The number of nuclear-related personnel will be approximately 30,000. All covered key personnel will be covered: mainly including nuclear welders and welding operators, and nuclear-grade non-destructive testing personnel, which will amount to approximately 10,000.

It is understood that the in-depth development of the nuclear safety culture has taken place at a time when China's eastern coastal areas are about to start a new nuclear power project. The restart of nuclear power projects has brought new opportunities for development in the nuclear power equipment industry. The quality of nuclear safety equipment is an important basis for nuclear safety. Nuclear safety is a prerequisite and a lifeline for the development of nuclear power. Therefore, nuclear safety culture construction in the field of nuclear safety equipment is strengthened. Ensuring the quality of nuclear safety equipment will provide a strong guarantee for the healthy development of nuclear power.