China's nuclear power "nuclear cycle + fast reactor model" will take shape in 2030
Source: CLP News Network Date: 2015-10-16
In the decades of development of civil nuclear energy, various discussions on the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power development have not ceased. Among them, how to dispose of spent fuel in thermal reactors has often become the focus of attention. If we have been arguing without practice, it is obviously impossible to draw valid conclusions. It is for this reason that the phased conclusions drawn by France through more than 40 years of closed nuclear fuel cycle practice have become valuable.
During the development of nuclear power, China and France have conducted in-depth cooperation. For the management of spent fuel, we have also chosen the "closed-cycle nuclear fuel" route with engineering experience in the world. It is understood that in order to build a mature closed cycle system for nuclear fuel and meet the needs of nuclear power development, China has adopted a combination of independent research and development and international cooperation. Among them, the "China-France Cooperative Nuclear Cycle Project", which is a representative project of international cooperation, is scheduled to start construction in 2020.
Sino-French cooperative nuclear cycle project meets the needs of staged spent fuel treatment
According to the plan, by 2020, China ’s installed capacity in operation will reach 58 million kilowatts, which will put great pressure on China ’s spent fuel safety management. In this regard, one is to actively build a spent fuel centralized off-reactor storage facility as a buffer; the other is to speed up the construction of spent fuel nuclear cycle capacity.
Under normal circumstances, the fuel rods of thermal reactors need to be replaced every 18 to 24 months. If the used spent fuel is not treated, it will cause waste of uranium resources, and the second is that the radioactive decay period of untreated spent fuel is too long. However, after the nuclear cycle treatment, not only can it produce mixed oxide fuel (MOX fuel), improve resource utilization efficiency, but also greatly reduce the amount of high-level waste.
The development of nuclear cycle capabilities has a variety of benefits, and the direction of the closed cycle of nuclear fuel has been verified for decades. Therefore, as China's only nuclear industry with the capability of the entire industrial chain of the nuclear industry, China Nuclear Group has taken the nuclear cycle as the focus of its strategic development and an emerging industry. Tasks such as cycling.
On September 23, China National Nuclear Corporation organized a Sino-French cooperative nuclear cycle project promotion meeting. The project is scheduled to start construction in 2020. After completion, it can handle 800 tons of domestic nuclear power plant spent fuel every year, and China's commercial nuclear cycle capacity will be greatly improved. According to reports, the project will be improved and optimized with reference to the French Agg nuclear cycle plant, combined with technological progress and China's actual conditions. The project is under construction by CNNC, and Areva Group of France assumes overall technical responsibility. The project covers an area of 3 square kilometers, and is invested by the National Spent Fuel Disposal Special Fund, with a total investment of more than 100 billion yuan.
In addition to nuclear recycling capabilities, the project will also build a spent fuel off-reactor storage center, with a storage capacity of 3,000 tons in the first phase, and centralized storage and later management of fuel discharged from nuclear power stations to make nuclear power safer. At the same time, the high-level waste liquid glass is solidified, realizing the inherent safety of long-term management of high-level waste, and making nuclear power cleaner. The Sino-French cooperative nuclear cycle project is planned to be completed around 2030. After completion, China will form a large-scale commercial nuclear cycle capacity.
Over the years, the Sino-French cooperative nuclear cycle project has received great attention from both governments. The two governments have signed four cooperation documents. In 2007, the "Implementation Agreement of the Joint Working Group on Sino-French Cooperative Nuclear Cycle Project Cooperation" was signed. In 2008, the "Report of the Joint Working Group on Sino-French Cooperative Nuclear Cycle Project Cooperation" was signed. Statement ", in June 2015, the" Statement of Intent on Sino-French Cooperative Nuclear Cycle Project "was signed. At present, the Sino-French cooperative nuclear cycle project has completed technical negotiations and the first round of business negotiations. According to the overall progress of the project, before the end of November this year, China National Nuclear Corporation will sign a cooperation agreement with the provinces, cities, and counties that are interested in determining the pre-selection and alternative sites for nuclear recycling projects. Currently, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong, etc. Provinces expressed their intentions.
China's nuclear cycle capacity will reach world advanced level in 2030
The thorium nuclear cycle technology is not only an important part of the efficient recycling of nuclear fuel, but also an important step in the development of China's "thermal reactor-fast reactor-fusion reactor" nuclear power in three steps. The multiple nuclear fuel cycles of the "nuclear cycle + fast reactor" are the second step of the three-step development of nuclear energy.
It is predicted that by 2030, China's pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant will generate approximately 23,500 tons of spent fuel, and the demand for off-storage storage will reach 15,000 tons. The large-scale development of nuclear power will inevitably require accelerated nuclear cycle capacity in terms of policies and objective requirements. development of.
At the same time, according to China's fast reactor development plan, it is estimated that around 2035, China's fast reactor development will also enter a new stage, and commercial fast reactor projects will be successively completed. With the maturity of fast reactor technology and uranium resource demand market Large-scale expansion can foresee good prospects for the development of China's commercial fast reactors in the future. By then, the nuclear cycle project after production will provide fuel for the development of China's fast reactors, and the "nuclear cycle + fast reactor" model will take shape.
The development of nuclear power has become one of the strategic directions for China's clean energy development. However, the proportion of nuclear power installed in China is currently very low, so the development of nuclear power has broad prospects.
In the future, the demand for nuclear cycle capacity will continue to increase with the growth of nuclear power installations.
At present, the country with the strongest nuclear cycle capacity is France, with a nuclear cycle capacity of 1,700 tons / year, followed by the United Kingdom, with a capacity of 1,200 tons / year, and Japan again, with a capacity of 800 tons / year.
Of course, based on the forecast of China ’s future installed power capacity, if China ’s nuclear power installed capacity accounts for the international average level, the processing capacity of only a Sino-French cooperative nuclear cycle project cannot meet the demand. Therefore, it is not excluded that in the future, self-constructed, more advanced and more powerful nuclear cycle projects will emerge.