D. Song

Nuclear Power Institute of China, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China

18.1 Introduction

China’s economy has been rapidly growing since the 1980s. The increased energy demand and environmental problems caused by firing fossil fuels are key challenges for China’s sustainable development. In the period 2000-2007, China’s average growth rate of energy consumption was 8.9% per year and that of electricity consumption was as high as 13.0% per year. The composition of primary energy production (as coal equivalent calculation) was: 76.6% raw coal, 11.3% crude oil, 3.9% natural gas, 7.3% hydro power and 0.9% nuclear power [1]. Such a primary energy mix resulted in the emission of large amounts of SO2 and CO2. In 2006, the emission amounts of CO2 were 5.61 billion tons [2], and those of SO2 from the industry sector were 22.35 million tons [1]. To meet the challenge, China is developing clean energies including nuclear energy and renewable energies such as wind power and solar energy. In recent years, China’s nuclear electricity production has been increasing. Nuclear power plants (NPPs) with a total capacity of about 10 GW(e), (1% of total electricity generation) in the form of new, pressurized-water reactors (PWRs) are under construction [3]. The construction of Gen-III PWR, AP1000 and EPR are progressing well. According to the ‘State Medium-Long Term (2005-2020) Development Programme of Nuclear Power’ issued in Oct. 2007, the total capacity of operating nuclear power plants in 2020 will be 40 GW(e) plus 18 GW(e) under construction. Considerably increasing application of nuclear energy will greatly improve China’s primary energy mix and also its air quality.

In order to meet the goal of the Chinese government, several Chinese national industries have developed kinds of reactor, such as CAP1400, ACP1000, CGP1000, HTR-200 and ACP100. Among them, HTR-200 and ACP100 are small modular reactor (SMRs) which have been developed by Tsinghua University and China National Nuclear Corporation separately.

There are several reasons that have driven Chinese national industries to develop SMRs. They are suitable for small electricity grids, district heating, process heating supply and seawater desalination. According to specific conditions, different counties have varying goals in China. In the north of China, the demand of energy for city heat consumption is several hundred millions tons of coal per year, of which 10% is used for heating in the winter season. Due to air pollution in winter, SMR district heating is one of the options. In east China, energy consumption industries, such as building materials, metallurgy, chemical engineering etc., have set up their own

Handbook of Small Modular Nuclear Reactors. http://dx. doi. Org/10.1533/9780857098535.4.455

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thermal power plants. The emissions constitute over 70% of the total emission in China. For most of the industries located in east China coastal areas, the serious lack of fresh water resources have become the bottleneck of economic progress. SMRs for process heating supply and seawater desalination would be a good option. In outlying areas of China, such as mountain area and islands, SMRs will be the best choice for electricity generation.