China May Lower 2020 Nuclear Target by 10%, Fuel loading at Kalinin 4

1. Businessweek – China may cut its 2020 nuclear power capacity goal by about 10 percent under a revised development plan to be announced this year. Li Yongjiang, vice president of the China Nuclear Energy Association, said “Capacity will fall somewhere between 60 and 70 gigawatts, as some planned projects have to be scaled back or canceled.”

The State Oceanic Administration said on April 7 that China in the future will limit the number of reactors to be built on the coast. The country, constructing more reactors than any other, has at least 14 atomic units in operation, according to data from the World Nuclear Association.

The country, which started operating its first commercial nuclear plant in 1994, is building at least 27 reactors and has 50 more planned, according to the association.

“Nuclear power’s strategic importance in China’s energy sector has not changed,” Cao Shudong, assistant to the president of China National Nuclear Corp., the country’s largest atomic plant operator, said in an interview. “The Japan nuclear accident only made china pay more attention to nuclear safety and adopt more advanced technology.”

2. World Nuclear News – China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation (CGNPC) may be considering investing in the completion of two reactors at the Cernavoda plant in Romania. The company has signed a confidentiality agreement with Romania’s state-owned Nuclearelectrica to access documentation related to investing in the project to complete Cernavoda units 3 and 4.

3. The initial loading of fuel into the reactor vessel has begun at unit 4 of the Kalinin nuclear power plant in Tver region of Russia. Once all 163 fuel assemblies have been loaded into the reactor core, the unit will aim to achieve first criticality and subsequently be operated at the minimum controlled power levels while tests are conducted. First power from the unit is expected in late November. Kalinin 4 is a V-320 model VVER-1000 – the same as unit 3.

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