CHENGDU: The country's first experimental fast nuclear reactor will begin
trials in 2010, said Kang Rixin, general manager of China National Nuclear
Corporation.
The reactor is expected to burn 60-70 per cent of its uranium fuel, while a
conventional reactor consumes only 0.7 per cent of the uranium it is fed.
As the reactor can increase the utility rate of uranium, it will be of
significance in solving the country's energy crunch, Kang said.
Kang made the remarks at the ongoing 21st International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) International Fusion Energy Conference in Chengdu, capital of Southwest
China's Sichuan Province.
The six-day conference, which will wrap up on Saturday, has attracted 830
scientists, 750 from overseas.
China started its research into fast nuclear reactor technology in 1995 and
has invested 1.4 billion yuan (US$175 million) in the construction of the
experimental reactor.
Construction of the reactor is part of the country's energy strategy, and
comes amid concerns over fuel supplies.
And fast nuclear reactor technology is not the only area of investigation.
According to Pan Chuanhong, director of the Southwestern Institute of Physics
of China National Nuclear Corporation, China has been researching nuclear fusion
as an alternative energy source for the last 40 years.
Scientists have studied the feasibility of using deuterium or heavy hydrogen
from seawater to create nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion is how the Sun produces
energy.
Theoretically, under complete nuclear fusion, the deuterium in one litre of
seawater can produce energy equivalent to the burning of 300 litres of
petroleum, Pan said.
Some countries started feasibility studies into fusion energy in the late
1940s.
China, which entered the field in 1965 with the so-called "Human-made Sun"
programme, has built a Tokamak reactor, in which nuclear fusion takes place, at
the Southwestern Institute of Physics.
Nuclear fusion is different from nuclear fission, the reaction used in most
nuclear power stations at the moment. Nuclear fission creates safety problems
and its waste is almost impossible to treat.
Calling fusion a safer and more environmentally friendly alternative to
fission, Werner Burkart, deputy director-general of the IAEA, said that the
potential to develop fusion energy is unlimited.
"You don't need to buy it from Australia or Canada. You can take it
(deuterium) from the sea," he told China Daily.
However, Pan admitted that the first nuclear fusion plant won't be built
until the middle of the century.
The conference in Chengdu marked the first occasion the meeting has been held
in a developing country. China was chosen due to its achievements in nuclear
fusion research.