China says southeast nuclear plant part of stimulus plan
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
SHANGHAI, Nov 24 (AFP): China National Nuclear Corp., the country's biggest nuclear reactor builder, said today it has begun building a plant in the southeast as part of the government's economic stimulus plans.
The 100 billion-yuan (14.6 billion-dollar) plant in Fuqing in the province of Fujian will have six 1,000-megawatt reactors, the state-run company said in a statement.
China announced a four trillion yuan (586 billion dollars) stimulus package on November 9 in which it plans to spend on infrastructure and other projects until 2010 to help the country weather the global finance crunch. China has been seeking to expand its use of nuclear power, which accounts for less than two per cent of its total energy production.
The fast-growing economic power is highly dependent on coal, which is blamed for worsening pollution and proved risky when supplies were cut off by severe snowstorms during the winter.
China currently has 11 nuclear reactors in operation and will need up to 30 more atomic power plants if it expects to realise its target of producing 40 gigawatts of nuclear energy by 2020.
The 100 billion-yuan (14.6 billion-dollar) plant in Fuqing in the province of Fujian will have six 1,000-megawatt reactors, the state-run company said in a statement.
China announced a four trillion yuan (586 billion dollars) stimulus package on November 9 in which it plans to spend on infrastructure and other projects until 2010 to help the country weather the global finance crunch. China has been seeking to expand its use of nuclear power, which accounts for less than two per cent of its total energy production.
The fast-growing economic power is highly dependent on coal, which is blamed for worsening pollution and proved risky when supplies were cut off by severe snowstorms during the winter.
China currently has 11 nuclear reactors in operation and will need up to 30 more atomic power plants if it expects to realise its target of producing 40 gigawatts of nuclear energy by 2020.