China Says Experimental Fast Nuclear Reactor Now Connected to Power Grid
By Bloomberg News - Jul 21, 2011
China connected to the electricity grid an experimental nuclear reactor that produces less radioactive waste than current designs, in a move that may help the nation build safer atomic plants after the Fukushima crisis.
The 65-megawatt fast-neutron reactor near Beijing connected to the grid at 40 percent capacity today, Xu Mi, chief engineer at the experimental fast reactor program of the China Institute of Atomic Energy, said by telephone. The reactor was built by the institute with help from the Russian government.
China continues to promote the development of nuclear power even after it stopped approving new plants pending safety reviews following the March 11 accident at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, the worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl 25 years ago. France, the U.S. and U.K. are among countries developing the next generation of reactors based on fast-neutron technology that uses uranium fuel more efficiently.
“This is a pretty big breakthrough, as in the reactor is actually producing electricity,” Dave Dai, regional head of utilities research at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets, said by telephone from Hong Kong. “This basically means they can go ahead in terms of schedule for the real commercial ones.”
The experimental fast reactor took a decade to build and achieved criticality, or started controlled and sustainable generation, exactly a year ago, according to a report by the China Institute of Atomic Energy published on the website of China National Nuclear Corp., the nation’s biggest operator of atomic plants. China started fast-reactor research in the mid- 1960s, it said.
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