http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20050207/chinanuke.html
Feb. 8, 2005 — China plans to develop a revolutionary, "pebble-bed" nuclear reactor that would be both meltdown and proliferation proof, and come on line in five years time, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.
A Chinese energy consortium has chosen the city of Weihai in northeastern Shandong province to build the 195-megawatt gas-cooled power plant, the newspaper said, citing an unnamed official representing the consortium.
The plant would be the first radically new reactor design for decades, putting China at the forefront in nuclear energy research that offers a "meltdown-proof" alternative to conventional nuclear power stations, it said.
"Pebble bed" reactors are fueled by thousands of small graphite balls with minute uranium cores which provide the fuel for the nuclear reaction.
The consortium includes electricity producer Huaneng Power International Inc, Beijing's Tsinghua University and China Nuclear Engineering and Construction, the Financial Times said.
No one from the companies was available for comment Tuesday.
Supporters say the technology is safer in terms of nuclear proliferation due to the expense and difficulty of processing the spent fuel from the graphite balls, the report said.
Advocates of pebble bed reactors also argue they offer cheaper, safer and easily expandable nuclear power stations. That appeals to China, which is struggling to meet huge growth in energy demand while avoiding environmental disaster.
"Pebble bed" technology was pioneered in Germany, which shut down its last prototype reactor in 1989, while a South African project remains in doubt, the newspaper said.
Feb. 8, 2005 — China plans to develop a revolutionary, "pebble-bed" nuclear reactor that would be both meltdown and proliferation proof, and come on line in five years time, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.
A Chinese energy consortium has chosen the city of Weihai in northeastern Shandong province to build the 195-megawatt gas-cooled power plant, the newspaper said, citing an unnamed official representing the consortium.
The plant would be the first radically new reactor design for decades, putting China at the forefront in nuclear energy research that offers a "meltdown-proof" alternative to conventional nuclear power stations, it said.
"Pebble bed" reactors are fueled by thousands of small graphite balls with minute uranium cores which provide the fuel for the nuclear reaction.
The consortium includes electricity producer Huaneng Power International Inc, Beijing's Tsinghua University and China Nuclear Engineering and Construction, the Financial Times said.
No one from the companies was available for comment Tuesday.
Supporters say the technology is safer in terms of nuclear proliferation due to the expense and difficulty of processing the spent fuel from the graphite balls, the report said.
Advocates of pebble bed reactors also argue they offer cheaper, safer and easily expandable nuclear power stations. That appeals to China, which is struggling to meet huge growth in energy demand while avoiding environmental disaster.
"Pebble bed" technology was pioneered in Germany, which shut down its last prototype reactor in 1989, while a South African project remains in doubt, the newspaper said.
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