| New reactors on the way | | Print | |
| Monday, 24 July 2006 | |
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Since the last issue of Industry Link there have been several encouraging developments worldwide showing that the pace of new reactor construction is picking up. This includes countries which currently have no nuclear power stations.
Since the last issue of Industry Link there have been several encouraging developments worldwide showing that the pace of new reactor construction is picking up. This includes countries which currently have no nuclear power stations. Poland The Polish government has decided in principle to build its first nuclear reactor by 2021 in order to ensure security of supply and to meet its greenhouse gas emissions targets. The nuclear proposal was approved as part of a draft policy addressing the country's energy needs up to 2025. However they are still a long way from ordering a unit as the country has no experience in the field and it wants to have a public debate over several years to ensure acceptance of the proposal. For social and technological reasons the government has agreed it would be impossible to commission the first nuclear plant before 2021. South Korea Plans to start construction of two new units in South Korea - Shin-Kori 1 and 2 in Pusan - have been given the go-ahead by the government, ending months of delay and uncertainty about the project. The units are of Korea standard nuclear power plant plus design (KSNP) - based on the Westinghouse System 80 technology design. BNFL's Westinghouse subsidiary has contracts to provide components, instrumentation, control equipment, technical and engineering support services for the units. The total cost of the project will be about $5 billion. South Korea now has 20 reactor units in operation following the grid connection of Ulchin 6, a 960MW pressurised water reactor. It is scheduled to start commercial operation in June. Pakistan Pakistan, which currently only has 2 nuclear power stations generating about 1% of its electricity, is planning to build more nuclear power plants. The driving force behind this is to reduce its dependence on imported oil and gas as well as to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions which it regards as highly environmentally damaging. Pakistan signed an agreement with China in 2003 for its help in the construction of a second unit at Chasnupp. |
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