By Wan Zhihong (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-12-24 15:07

The largest joint project ever undertaken between China and Russia, the Tianwan nuclear power station on the shores of the Yellow Sea in Lianyungang in East China's Jiangsu Province, is now producing power.

It is the nation's third nuclear generating complex, following those built in Qinshan in Zhejiang and Daya Bay in Guangdong.

At a total investment of nearly 30 billion yuan, the plant, which has now fired up two reactors, has signed a deal for two more in a second phase and has plans for an additional four after that.

The AES-91 pressurized water reactors use technology from Russia. Each has a capacity of 1,060 megawatts (MW).

Construction of the project started in 1999. Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corp operates the facility in which State-owned China National Nuclear Corp holds a 50 percent stake.

The plant is starting to help meet the voracious appetite for power in Jiangsu, one of the fastest growing and most prosperous regions in China.

"At present the power output of Tianwan accounts for 3 to 4 percent of the power in Jiangsu," Jiang Guoyuan, general manager of Jiangsu Nuclear tells China Business Weekly.

"The project has also changed the overall energy structure in Jiangsu. Before Tianwan, the province has no nuclear power, a clean power," he says.

Jiangsu is now closing down many small highly polluting coal-fired power plants and has plans to further develop clean energy sources, including nuclear power, he says.

The two Tianwan reactors use some 50 tons of nuclear fuel a year. Coal-fired power plants with the same installed capacity would require 6 million tons of coal.

"It means enormous reduction in emissions. Our statistics show that the Tianwan project will reduce carbon dioxide by 16 million tons a year. It will also reduce waste residue by 400,000 tons annually, as well significant amounts of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions," Jiang says.

The central government has set the target of cutting energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20 percent and pollutant discharges by 10 percent from 2006 to 2010.

The government also set a target to increase nuclear power capacity to 40,000 MW by 2020.

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