Former Minister of Energy Huang Yicheng: China needs to develop nuclear power
Source: CLP News Network Date: 2015-01-12
It has been more than three years since the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. China has not started construction of a new nuclear power plant at this time, and the main concern is the safety of nuclear power. At present, there are more than 400 nuclear power plants in operation around the world, and they can operate safely as long as they operate according to regulations. Three nuclear accidents have occurred in history, two of which were caused by improper man-made operations; the third was caused by a magnitude nine earthquake and a twelve-meter-high tsunami. If properly handled at the time, it can be avoided. During the earthquake, the Fukushima Second Nuclear Power Plant, 8 kilometers away, was intact.
Plutonium technology is advancing, and now nuclear power stations have greatly improved their safety. The nuclear power plants currently in operation and under construction in China can be operated safely. Moreover, the third-generation nuclear power plant is an intelligent reactor, which is safer to operate. Such serious safety accidents will not occur and can be foolproof. Stepping back 10,000 steps, if an accident occurs, since China's nuclear power plants have built safer and stronger containment plants than the US Three Mile Island nuclear power plant more than 30 years ago, radioactive materials can be shielded and sealed in the containment plant Like the US Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant, although the core melted, no radioactive material leaked out.
The national economy needs a certain speed of development, and electricity also needs a certain speed of development. China should vigorously develop wind power, solar energy (which requires investment to solve the problem of consumption) and hydropower. However, these cannot meet the needs, and other power sources must be developed at the same time. If nuclear power is not developed, coal power can only be developed. In 2013, China has consumed 3.6 billion tons of coal produced by itself and imported about 200 million tons. With such a large amount of development of coal power, the atmospheric environment is difficult to sustain. At present, China is already the country with the largest carbon dioxide emissions, and coal consumption has exceeded 40% of the world's total coal production.
(1) Coastal nuclear power can be safely operated, while inland nuclear power can be safely operated. It will not be damaged by the tsunami and typhoon. The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant is built inland and is located on Three Mile Island on the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, USA. It has two units, namely Three Mile Island Unit 1 and Three Mile Island Unit 2. The Three Mile Island Unit 1 is a pressurized water reactor with a unit capacity of 802,000 kilowatts. It was connected to the grid for power generation on April 19, 1974. After the Three Mile Island Unit 2 accident, the unit stopped operation. After technical, legal and management review, it was re-connected to the grid for power generation in October 1985. In the past ten years, the unit has won the honor of "the best nuclear power plant in the world". The 3 Mile Island Unit 2 is also a pressurized water reactor, which is technically exactly the same as Unit 1 except that the power generation capacity was increased to 906,000 kilowatts and was connected to the grid for power generation on December 30, 1978. On March 28, 1979, the unit suffered a nuclear accident due to poor management and operational errors. On March 30, the Governor of Pennsylvania issued an evacuation order advising pregnant women and school-age children within 5 miles of the nuclear power plant to evacuate. In fact, 39% of the public has evacuated within 15 miles of a nuclear power plant due to concerns about radiological hazards.
Although there was a serious accident at the Sanlidao Nuclear Power Plant, no serious consequences were caused. The reason is that the shielding and sealing effect of the reactor building (container) composed of a 1.2-meter-thick reinforced concrete in a semi-circular cylinder makes it extremely large. Most radioactive materials have not leaked, which also highlights its important role as the last line of defense for nuclear power plants. The amount of radioactive material leaked into the atmosphere only accounts for 2% of the total amount of radioactive material released by fuel. Within 80 kilometers, the actual radiation dose received by more than 2 million residents is only 1% of the permitted exposure dose. Impact is safe.
When building some large projects in China, two different voices often appear. For example, the Three Gorges Hydropower Station was opposed by a large expert in water conservancy. After many years of discussion, opinions could not be unified. In the end, the state leader made a decision on construction. After the completion of the Three Gorges Power Station, huge benefits were generated: the Three Gorges could easily solve the 2012 flood; the 23 million kilowatt power generation capacity; and the annual capacity of the Golden Waterway exceeded 100 million tons. In addition, the construction of a large channel dedicated to coal transportation, the Da-Qin Railway, plans to transport 100 million tons of coal annually, and some experts object, especially some railway experts. After the completion of the Daqin Line, the annual coal transportation volume has now reached more than 400 million tons, which has ensured the use of coal by coastal power plants, which is a great contribution. There are also UHV transmission projects, and there is also a lot of opposition, especially some experts in the power sector, who wrote to national leaders against the construction of UHV projects, which affected some UHV construction projects. The construction of UHV is determined by the distribution characteristics of China's energy resources. Coal resources are distributed in the northwest and water resources are in the southwest. To transport these resources to coastal areas that lack energy, UHV is an inevitable choice. Xiluodu's hydropower is sent to Shanghai to solve the local electricity consumption. If it is not delivered, this electricity cannot be absorbed locally.
Now, in order to solve the problems of air pollution and climate warming, vigorously develop nuclear power. Another group of experts came out to oppose. Fortunately, no nuclear power experts have objected this time. Since some of the opponents are major experts and academicians, they have had a great impact on the decision of national leaders. I suggest that those comrades who oppose the development of nuclear power, especially the construction of nuclear power in the Mainland, are better off to visit nuclear power plants. It is difficult to go abroad for inspections. You can go to domestic nuclear power plants and see those built with our own technology and equipment. Up to 300,000 kilowatts of nuclear power plants, some of these power stations have been operating safely for more than 20 years.
Time is precious. Even if the construction of a nuclear power plant is approved now and the unit is put into operation by 2020, the nuclear power development plan we have formulated is very difficult to complete.