Nuclear reactor costs in China

China’s nuclear reactors tend to cost from $1500 to $2500 per KW. This is a far lower cost than in Europe or the US. Controlled cost is a good reason that China is building about 28 out of the 69 nuclear reactors under construction in the world. China, Russia, India and South Korea are where 50 out of the 69 world nuclear reactors are being built. They all have construction costs under control and tend to be 2 to 3 times cheaper than in Europe or the USA.

Two 1700 MW EPR reactors Taishan Nuclear Power Plant are to finish late in 2013 and in 2014 and cost CNY 49.85 billion ($7.3 billion). This is $2147 per KW.

The CPR-1000 is a significantly upgraded version of the 900 MWe-class French M310 three-loop technology imported for the Daya Bay nuclear power plant in the 1980s and also built at Ling Ao. Known as the ‘improved Chinese PWR’ and designated Generation II+, it features digital instrumentation and control and a design life of 60 years. Its 157 fuel assemblies (4.3 m long) have calculated core melt frequency of 1×10^-5 and a release probability an order of magnitude lower than this.

Standard construction time is 52 months, and the claimed unit cost was under CNY 10,000 (US$ 1600) per kilowatt, though 2013 estimates put it at about $2300/kW domestically. With a capacity of 1080 MWe gross (1037 MWe net), Ling Ao Phase II is the first plant to be designated as the CPR-1000 design

Yangjiang Nuclear Power Station (YNPS) is a nuclear power plant in the Guangdong province of China. The site is Dongping Town, Yangjiang City in western Guangdong Province. The station will have six 1,080 megawatt (MW) CPR-1000 pressurized water reactors. The cost is US$10.2 billion. This is $1570 per KW.

NNC’s Xudabao or Xudapu nuclear power station is in Xingcheng City, Huludao (Hulu island), in coastal Liaoning province. The CNY 90 billion (US$15 billion) Xudabao project will comprise six CAP1000 reactors, with units 1&2 in the US$4 billion first phase.

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