Wang Yiren data map
Wang Yiren, deputy director of the National Defense Science and Technology Bureau and deputy director of the National Atomic Energy Agency, said recently that China’s inland nuclear power plants are expected to start construction in the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan", but he also revealed that there is no clear timetable for the construction of inland nuclear power plants.
In fact, several years ago, the preparatory work for nuclear power plants was carried out in the inland of China, but it is still frozen. So far, the nuclear power policy authorities, including the National Development and Reform Commission, have not made a clear statement.
At the same time, Li Jiangang, an academician of China Academy of Sciences, told the reporter of China Science News that in fact, China already has the technical capability to build inland nuclear power plants.
So, what is the reason why the construction of inland nuclear power plants in China is still pending?
Multi-factors should be considered carefully
As we all know, there are about 100 commercial nuclear reactors in operation in the United States, and most of them are inland, and more than half of France’s nuclear power plants are inland. Talking about the fact that the construction of inland nuclear power plants in China has not been able to break the ice so far, Jiang Wei, a professor at the School of Nuclear Science and Technology of the University of Science and Technology of China, said that on the issue of nuclear leakage, the state requires "actual elimination". "But there is no absolute zero probability for anything."
In addition, Hooper, School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University, said that the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan had a great impact on China’s nuclear power. "Japan itself is an earthquake zone, so it should not have installed so many nuclear power units, and because the technology is the old-fashioned technology of the first two generations, it is more affected by the outside world." He admitted that the superposition of the last earthquake and tsunami in Japan sounded the alarm for the design of our power station. "We must be foolproof in site selection."
"The Fukushima nuclear accident fully shows that no matter how many safety barriers, nuclear power plants may be destroyed and destroyed in an unknown way." Guo Yunru, an associate professor at the College of Nuclear Science and Technology of the University of Science and Technology of China, said.
According to reports, the nuclear power plant planned to be built inland in China is the third generation nuclear power plant, which adopts the passive safety principle and has set up serious accident mitigation measures.
"No matter which generation of nuclear power plants, like Jetta, Audi and Bentley, accidents will happen, but the probability is different, and more importantly, the driver." Yun Guo believes that our emphasis on nuclear safety should be reflected in the quality and sense of responsibility of front-line workers and technicians.
"In addition, China will make a comprehensive comparison and comprehensive evaluation with other countries in the world with inland nuclear power in terms of population, density, geology and climate conditions." Li Jiangang told reporters.
Hooper believes that ultimately it depends on policy orientation. "Inland provinces want to build nuclear power plants to solve the problem of electricity consumption due to lack of resources. However, the construction period of nuclear power plants is long and the initial investment is huge, which wastes too much. "
The cooling problem should not be underestimated.
In addition to the above factors, Wang Yiren also said that the construction of inland nuclear power plants should consider some special conditions in inland areas, such as extreme drought and extreme rainfall.
It is understood that if the water problem is not solved in the location of inland nuclear power plants, the potential risk is great.
"The cooling methods of inland and coastal nuclear power plants are different. In inland areas, because there is not enough cooling water, cooling is mainly carried out in the form of cooling towers. The core of nuclear power plants should be fully cooled so that there will be no serious operational problems. " Chen Zhi, an associate professor at the College of Nuclear Science and Technology of the University of Science and Technology of China, pointed out that there is no essential difference between inland nuclear power plants and coastal nuclear power plants except for the cooling problem.
Hooper said that inland and coastal nuclear power plants are basically the same in terms of large components.The only difference is that coastal nuclear power plants use seawater for cooling, while inland nuclear power plants use wind energy towers with tens of meters high for cooling."The wind energy tower is a combination of wind and water. In the past, there was wind and water in the tower. Many inland nuclear power plants in the United States adopt this method, and it can also be cooled by atmospheric heat exchange when the inland water is insufficient. "
of course，The Three Mile Island nuclear accident, in which the cooling water was reduced and the core melted due to human factors, also sounded the alarm for us.Jiang Wei said that in this respect, China’s nuclear technology is currently developing towards "unmanned intervention". As long as there is an accident, the core will be automatically maintained for more than three days, and follow-up measures will continue to follow up.
Security measures should not be paralyzed.
"After 2011, both CGNPC and CNNC have improved their own security technologies, and they are currently adopting the latest generation of security technologies." However, Hooper also warned that when a nuclear leak occurs in a nuclear power plant, some gas will escape. "In the past, our handling of nuclear safety accidents was mainly about evacuating people within a few kilometers. The main hazard of nuclear leakage was the atmosphere, and there was not much we could do about it."
Although China has accumulated many years of experience at present, Jiang Wei believes that China urgently needs to establish its own nuclear emergency mechanism and emergency team in order to deal with nuclear leakage in a timely and appropriate manner and reduce its impact on the environment.
Chen Zhi also reminded that as long as nuclear leakage occurs in inland nuclear power plants, it will definitely endanger regional security. However, the emergency response of nuclear power plants has a certain scope, some of which are cross-regional, so it is necessary to deal with the coordination of emergency response between different regions.
"Whether there is a nuclear leak in a nuclear power plant has a lot to do with the operation level of the nuclear power plant. The third generation nuclear power plant ensures the safety of nuclear power in principle. " Chen Zhi said that even so, we should build nuclear power plants in strict accordance with nuclear power construction standards and norms, and let qualified nuclear power operators operate nuclear power, and there should be no omissions.
Jiang Wei pointed out that China should also establish a perfect nuclear safety monitoring network, encourage innovation, adopt advanced monitoring technology, and establish a sound and effective supervision system. In addition, it is necessary to make information open and transparent, release the latest information in time, and carry out corresponding popular science propaganda for ordinary people.
"Once the data is available, comparing the actual data with international environmental radiation standards, we can find that nuclear power plants are not terrible." On the contrary, Jiang Wei believes that if there is no real data, it is not convincing to the public and it is more likely to cause people’s resistance.
In addition, Yun Guo called for a special insurance policy for residents near the nuclear power plant.
(The original title is "Inland Nuclear Power Plant: There is still no timetable for breaking the ice")