By IANS,
Beijing: China will bring third generation nuclear reactors to service in 2013, a top Chinese nuclear company official has said.
Despite being hindered by the Japan nuclear crisis, China’s first AP1000 nuclear power reactor is expected to come into operation by the scheduled time of 2013, Xinhua quoted the official as saying here Saturday.
According to Wang Binghua, board chairman of the State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC), construction progress of the country’s third-generation nuclear reactors is generally “under control”.
The country started to construct its first third-generation pressurised water reactors in 2009, which were also the world’s first to use AP1000 technologies developed by US-based Westinghouse.
As per world nuclear association, the third-generation reactors have a simpler and more rugged design, making them easier to operate and less vulnerable to operational upsets.
They have higher availability and longer operating life – typically 60 years and resistance to serious damage that would allow radiological release from an aircraft impact.