| Abstract |
Mainland China has 16 nuclear power reactors in operation, almost 30 under construction, and more about to start construction. Additional reactors are planned, including some of the world’s most advanced, to give a five- or six-fold increase in nuclear capacity to 58 GWe by 2020, then possibly 200 GWe by 2030, and 400 GWe by 2050. China has become largely self-sufficient in reactor design and construction, as well as other aspects of the fuel cycle. The appendix to this report, Appendix : Government Structure and Ownership can be found here http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf63ai_chinanuclearstructure.html Ministries and Commissions are at the top level under the State Council; Administrations and Bureaus are under these. The national utility companies are largely or wholly state-owned. As well as these high-level entities, there are specialist service companies with national scope, listed in the second section of this page. Below these are listed the owner companies relevant to each power plant or project. Its report on China’s Nuclear Fuel Cycle can be found here: http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf63b_china_nuclearfuelcycle.html Although China intends to become self-sufficient in most aspects of the fuel cycle, it relies increasingly on imported uranium as well as conversion, enrichment and fabrication services from other countries. Domestic uranium mining currently supplies less than a quarter of China’s nuclear fuel needs. Exploration and plans for new mines have increased significantly since 2000, and state-owned enterprises are also acquiring uranium resources internationally. China’s two major enrichment plants were built under agreements with Russia in the 1990s and, under a 2008 agreement, Russia will help build additional capacity and also supply low-enriched uranium to meet future needs. China has stated it intends to become self-sufficient not just in nuclear power plant capacity, but also in the production of fuel for those plants. However, the country still relies on foreign suppliers for all stages of the fuel cycle, from uranium mining through fabrication and reprocessing. As China rapidly increases the number of new reactors, it has also initiated a number of domestic projects, often in cooperation with foreign suppliers, to meet its nuclear fuel needs. |
