Speech: Looking forward to the development prospects of the nuclear energy industry
Source: China Nuclear Industry News Date: 2015-04-16
Is the new spring of the nuclear industry approaching? When can the pace of development accelerate? Such a problem has haunted the minds of the Chinese nuclear industry, which has been struggling with the frustrations of the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan more than once. Now, along with the main theme of the beautiful scenery in March, through the fog that has accumulated and dissipated four years ago, the industry looks to the future with the wisdom of China's sustainable development and dimly sees the prospect of blossoming flowers.
Just on the eve of this year's "two sessions", a documentary film "Under the Dome" filmed by a well-known host of CCTV at his own expense of millions of yuan was quickly spread through major social media, bringing a topic that was not new again. The frenzy has aroused the attention of the entire society. Regardless of the idea and conclusion of the film itself, the smog phenomenon involved has actually become a barrier that cannot be bypassed in the economic and social development of modern China. In fact, the whole society has a general consensus that clean energy, including nuclear power, must be developed to eliminate smog. The State Council General Office's “Energy Development Strategic Action Plan (2014-2020)” clearly stated that by 2020, nuclear power installed capacity will reach 58 million kilowatts, and the capacity under construction will exceed 30 million kilowatts. During the "two sessions" this year, 21 members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference jointly submitted a proposal entitled "Promoting a new round of development of nuclear power and realizing the strategic goal of national energy structure adjustment in the medium and long term". People of insight believe that during the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, the state should further clarify the pillar position of nuclear power in optimizing the energy structure at a strategic level, and develop nuclear power as an important alternative to fossil energy on a large-scale development, so that it occupies a considerable share in power supply Only in this way can we effectively support the goal of increasing the proportion of non-fossil energy consumption to 20% by 2030. Some nuclear power experts said that since the number of new nuclear power projects nationwide since last year is zero, China can only achieve more of these goals by launching more nuclear power projects this year. At the same time, the issue of whether to restart the construction of inland nuclear power plants during the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period is also being discussed and studied enthusiastically. Various voices have emerged one after another and have become a topic for a while.
As if echoing the common aspirations during the "two sessions", on March 29, the construction of Unit 5 of the Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant officially started. This is after a lapse of 15 months, China has once again started construction of nuclear power units. As the first large-scale commercial nuclear power plant in Northeast China, Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant plans to build 6 million-kilowatt PWR nuclear power units. Among them, Units 1 and 2 were put into commercial operation on June 6, 2013 and May 13, 2014, and Unit 3 was connected to the grid for power generation on March 23, 2015. It is planned to be put into commercial operation in the first half of 2015; The unit's current construction progress is good. The start of Unit 5 will kick off the nuclear power sector's implementation of China's energy development strategic action plan.
Also worth noting is another major event in the industry that has been talked about for a long time. On March 27, the publicity period for the case of China National Electric Power Investment Corporation's acquisition of the shares of State Nuclear Power Technology Co., Ltd. expired. This means that China Power Investment Corporation and the national nuclear power reorganization and merger take a key step. It is understood that CPIC's main businesses include power generation, heat production and supply, related professional technical services, development of one-time energy sources such as electricity-related coal, and related transportation. The main business of the State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation includes technology research and development, application, promotion and service of nuclear power, power engineering contracting and related services. China Power Investment Corporation is one of the few power generation companies with the qualification of a nuclear power owner. The National Nuclear Power Technology Corporation, as the main unit to introduce, digest, absorb, and innovate the three generations of US nuclear power technology AP1000, has been ambitious trying to make a difference. The merger and reorganization of the two companies this time is a reshuffle for the domestic nuclear power market, which will bring new stimulus to the competition in the future.
Perhaps many people haven't noticed that March 20 this year is a special day for the Chinese nuclear power industry. Thirty years ago, exactly on this day, the first nuclear power plant in mainland China, Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant, poured the first tank of concrete, and China's nuclear power started from then on. After 30 years of ups and downs, Qinshan has always held up the banner of independent innovation. With the completion of the ninth unit this year, it has finally built the largest nuclear power base in China. It has accumulated many years of independent innovation experience, safe operation experience, group reactor management experience, personnel training experience, Chinese-foreign cooperation experience, and enterprise-land integration experience. It seems that China's nuclear power industry is about to usher in a new climax today. Replace and fill precious value.
As stated by the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Amano Amano, the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan has been exactly four years ago. Some people predict that the international nuclear energy promotion and construction plan will be put on hold for a long time, but this is not the case. Energy is the key to social development, and nuclear energy is an important means to ensure energy security, combat climate change, and help socio-economic development. At present, some large developing countries have formulated nuclear power project expansion plans for the next 20 years, and some other countries are also actively studying nuclear power projects to help economic development. The 2015 Nuclear Energy Conference, held in South Africa from March 18 to 19, provided a strong footnote to this judgment. South Africa is one of the earliest countries in the world to develop nuclear energy, and it is also the only country in Africa with nuclear power plants. At present, the South African government is promoting a nuclear power plant construction project costing 1 trillion rand (about 95 billion U.S. dollars). This conference has attracted attention from all sides for this purpose. Nuclear power giants from China, Russia, the United States, France and other countries have attended the conference. During the meeting, nuclear energy experts from various countries believed that after the hardening of the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, the new generation of nuclear power technology has higher safety standards. As a safe and low-carbon energy source, nuclear power will usher in a new round of development.
From the beginning of March when President Xi Jinping met with Prince William of the United Kingdom, he emphasized that Sino-British cooperation in nuclear power and other fields has continued to make new progress. By the end of March, when Premier Li Keqiang met with Armenian President Sarkisin, China expressed willingness to cooperate with Armenia in railway, highway, nuclear power, It is not difficult to see that nuclear power plays an important role in China's "going out" strategy in cooperation in power and other fields. Some comments pointed out that China ’s nuclear power “going global” has achieved great results, which cannot be separated from the three mainstays of talent, technology, and cost-effectiveness. There is reason to believe that the future of China's nuclear power industry, whether it is at home or abroad, has entered a "year of maturity." (Xiao Yu)