Nuclear power development has obvious effects on atmospheric governance
Source: China News Network Date: 2014-11-19
Earlier this year, severe haze weather broke out in most parts of central and eastern China, affecting an area of about 1.43 million square kilometers, accounting for about 15% of the country's land area. Of the 161 cities that have carried out new air quality monitoring across the country, 36 have experienced severe pollution or higher, which has seriously affected the health of the people.
In September last year, the State Council issued the "National Ten Articles" on air pollution prevention and control, and proposed the national and key regions (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, and Pearl River Delta) PM2.5 / PM10 reduction targets and 10 measures for prevention and control in the next five years. . The core prevention and control measures in the energy field are to control the total coal consumption, increase the use of natural gas, and vigorously develop alternative energy sources such as nuclear power and renewable energy.
According to estimates, if 10 million kilowatts of nuclear power are installed in the surrounding areas of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta, or 10 million kilowatts of nuclear power will be delivered to the region through external power transmission, the PM2.5 in these regions can be 2.5 years. The average concentrations decreased by 3.4, 1.7, and 4.0 micrograms per cubic meter respectively, which is equivalent to reducing the annual average concentrations of PM2.5 in these three regions by 3%, 2.5%, and 9%, respectively, on the current basis. Five years later, these nuclear power installations contributed 12% (about 1/8), 12.5% (1/8), and 60% of the local average annual concentration reduction of PM2.5.
Compared with hydropower, wind power, and solar power, nuclear power has obvious advantages in improving environmental quality. Nuclear power has a large stand-alone capacity, stable operation, and high utilization hours. It can be used as the grid's base load. The production process is basically zero emissions, and the effect of improving the environment is very significant. It is estimated that for every 40 million kilowatts of nuclear power built, it can replace standard coal consumption of 100 million tons per year. The substitution effect of 1 million kilowatts of nuclear power on standard coal is equivalent to 2 million kilowatts of hydropower, 3.5 million kilowatts of wind power, and 4.7 million kilowatts of photovoltaic power.