Energy Security in Times of Economic Transition: Lessons From China by Yao Lixia

Author:Yao Lixia [Lixia, Yao]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Public Policy, Industries, Energy, Political Science, Energy Policy, Business & Economics, Economic Policy, General
ISBN: 9781839824647
Google: 9zYTEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Published: 2021-01-20T08:33:51+00:00

4.4.2.2. Nuclear Power.

Despite the early development of indigenous nuclear technology, China did not build nuclear power plants until the 1980s. In September 1987, Prime Minister Zhao Ziyang met the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency and expressed that China was optimistic about the development of nuclear technology in agriculture and industry (People’s Daily, 1987). The first Chinese nuclear power plant, Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant in Zhejiang Province, began commercial production in 1993. China’s first large commercial nuclear power plant was in utilisation in February 1994, when the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 started commercial operation (People’s Daily, 1994). Since the utilisation of the first large commercial nuclear power plant, the nuclear power growth in China had been slow. In 1999, the first phase of Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant was shut down for about one year for maintenance and repair (Chen & Chen, 2007, p. 2047). As a result, the nuclear share fell from 1.29% in 1995 to 1.24% in 2000.

Due to electricity shortages, nuclear energy was developed faster in the early twenty-first century than before. The second phase of the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant and the first phase of Ling’ao Nuclear Power Plant were put into operation in 2002; the third phase of Qinshan was running in 2003; and Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant started operating in 2004 (Chen & Chen, 2007, p. 2047). The operation of new nuclear power plants during the Tenth FYP raised the AC-5 up to 2.12% in 2005, the highest among the years in calculation. One favourable factor was perhaps the willingness of the Chinese public to embrace the role of nuclear power in the country’s economic development. The nuclear industry had ‘never before been incorporated into national economic planning’ (Zhou, 2010, p. 3761). Yet with nuclear expansion, China continued to grapple with the social, technological, and financial challenges to address waste disposal and other safety concerns. Compared to other energy resources, nuclear energy still contributed a relatively small share in the Eleventh FYP period. In 2010, the share of nuclear power in total electricity generation fell to 1.77%.

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