World's 1st AP1000 nuke to power up by 2013

(chinadaily.com.cn)

    The world's first generation III AP1000 reactor, the Sanmen nuclear power plant in east China's Zhejiang province, will be put into use by 2013, said Wang Binghua, chairman of the State Nuclear Power Technology Corp. (SNPTC), the Beijing Times reported Monday.

    Site construction for the Sanmen reactor began in February 2008. By the time of its scheduled operation in 2013, "it will be a world No.1, ahead of US by two years and a half," said Wang.

    The AP1000 reactor model was designed by Westinghouse Electric Company in the United States, which SNPTC selected to help build China's new-generation nuclear reactors. The AP1000 model, with an annual maximum core damage frequency per plant of 2.41 times 10 raised to a minus 7th exponent, is deemed safer than any existing technology, according to a Westinghouse summary.

    "This will be a perfect, advanced reactor with absolutely reliable security guarantee," Wang added.

    China has officially adopted the AP1000 as a standard for inland nuclear projects. The country's top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, has already approved a series of nuclear projects so far.