China to boost nuclear power as demand soars

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

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Index:



China to boost nuclear power as demand soars

Russia trained 600 Iran nuclear specialists -TASS

Brain Scans Used to Monitor Effect of Cancer Drug

TEPCO asks Aomori Pref. to host interim nuclear storage fac

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China to boost nuclear power as demand soars



SINGAPORE, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Heady economic growth and a worsening 

power shortage is prodding China to hasten the building of nuclear 

power plants to fill an energy supply gap in the world's fastest-

growing major economy, Beijing-based experts say.



Beijing has drafted a preliminary plan to quadruple nuclear power 

capacity to more than 32,000 megawatts (MW) between 2005 and 2020, or 

roughly two plants a year. China has built only eight reactors over 

the past two decades.



"There are strong signals from the government that encourage the nuke 

power sector. The sudden power shortage was the trigger," said Liu 

Changxin, deputy secretary general with the Chinese Nuclear Society 

(CNS).



The expansion would boost the share of nuclear energy in China's 

power mix to six percent in 2020 from 1.4 percent last year, sharply 

below wealthy nations' average of 30 percent.



In early 2003, nuclear power was officially listed for the first time 

in the national power sector development plan and placed under the 

direct charge of China's super ministry, the State Development and 

Reform Commission, experts said.



China runs 6,200 MW at eight nuclear generators all in the east coast 

and is building another three, which would bring total capacity to 

8,800 MW by the end of 2005.



The country's electricity demand surged at a sizzling 15.4 percent 

last year to 1.89 trillion kilowatt hours, driven by 9.1 percent 

economic growth, stretching the supply system and plunging 22 out of 

31 provinces into brown-outs.



Demand is set to expand about 11 percent this year. Analysts estimate 

China's power demand would grow at an annual average of 4.3 percent 

between 2001 and 2025, the fastest in the world.



SHORTAGES TO WORSEN



State media said shortages would worsen this year and supplies would 

not catch up with demand for another two years.



This prompted Beijing to rethink its strategies to grow its power 

market, the world's second largest, after the United States, and 

divert energy sources from coal, which fires three-quarters of the 

384,500-MW installed capacity.



Beijing is evaluating proposals to build four 1,000 MW plants costing 

an estimated $6 billion in east China's Zhejiang and Guangdong 

province, but no time frame has been set. Each kilowatt of capacity 

could cost around $1,600, an industry source said.



China financed most of the existing plants via international bank 

loans based on guarantees from the governments of foreign suppliers. 

Future projects are likely to seek more diverse funding, including 

corporate bonds and foreign stake holdings, Liu from CNS said.



Hong Kong's largest power utility, CLP Holdings Ltd <0002.HK>, is so 

far the only firm outside mainland China that owns a 25 percent stake 

in the 2,000-MW Daya Bay nuclear power plant.



The pace of future developments, however, could be slowed by a debate 

over where China should source its nuclear power technologies.



"The argument is over whether China should leap to the most advanced 

technology from the U.S., or the less advanced French know-how which 

dominates the existing reactors and of which China has had a firm 

grasp," Liu said.



He said Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse Electric Co, owned by British 

Nuclear Fuels Ltd, was among the interested suppliers.



China would have to wait at least two to three years before the most 

advanced technology from the United States is transferred to it, he 

said.



China imported eight of its 11 existing and planned reactors. 

Suppliers include France's Framatome and Electricite de France, 

Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd as well as from Russia.



Industry experts said China's inland provinces such as Hunan, Hubei 

and Sichun aimed to have new nuclear power plants and boost supplies 

to help attract investments and boost tax revenues.



They shrugged off worries over nuclear safety, citing its tiny share 

in the country's power mix and stringent safety measures set in plant 

designs.



"We have excessive concerns over nuclear safety. People have beach 

vacations in Japan and France where many nuclear plants are located 

nearby," said an official with state-owned China National Nuclear 

Corp.

------------------



Russia trained 600 Iran nuclear specialists -TASS



MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has already trained 600 specialists for a 

nuclear power station it is building in Iran despite U.S. concerns 

that Tehran wants to use it to develop nuclear weapons, Itar-Tass 

news agency said Wednesday.



Russia insists the $800 million Bushehr project is purely for 

peaceful purposes and will press on with the construction.



Tass said the specialists had been undergoing training in 

Novovoronezh center, 250 miles south of Moscow.



Russia plans to train just over 700 workers for the plant by next 

year.



Earlier this month, Moscow said it would sign a deal with Iran in 

March to ship nuclear fuel for the plant, defying U.S. pressure on 

Moscow to sever nuclear ties with the Islamic republic.

------------------



Brain Scans Used to Monitor Effect of Cancer Drug



LONDON (Feb. 17) - British scientists said Tuesday they have used a 

brain-imaging technique to monitor the effectiveness of a drug on 

tumors.



Instead of studying the size of the brain tumor over time, the 

researchers used nuclear magnetic resonance imaging to monitor 

molecular changes in cancer cells to predict at an early stage 

whether the drug was working.



"The technique has been around for a while but it has not been used 

in this context for looking at the metabolism in cancer cells," 

Professor Martin Leach, of the charity Cancer Research UK, said in an 

interview.



"The conventional scan is an image and you can see the extent of a 

tumor. What this (new application) does is look at the cells and asks 

how they are working. It gives information on chemicals in the cells 

rather than just the distribution of tissue," he added



The scientists identified changes caused by the chemotherapy drug 

temozolomide on patients with low-grade glioma brain tumors -- one of 

the most difficult types of cancer to treat.



A low-grade glioma tends to be slow-growing but it can quickly change 

into a much more aggressive and deadly tumor.



In research reported in The British Journal of Cancer, they measured 

levels of a molecule called choline, which indicates that cells are 

dividing and that the tumor is growing. They also measured the size 

of the tumor with magnetic resonance imaging scans in 13 patients.



The amount of choline gave an early indication whether the drug was 

halting cell division and the growth of the tumor.



Leach said the results show that using nuclear magnetic resonance 

could give doctors an early indication of whether temozolomide is 

working or if a patient could benefit more by switching to another 

drug.



Gliomas, one of the most common types of brain tumors, can cause 

headaches, seizures, behavior changes and dizziness. Treatments 

include surgery and chemotherapy depending on the size and the 

location of the tumor.



Leach and his colleagues believe studying the behavior of cancer 

cells with nuclear magnetic resonance could be useful for doctors in 

identifying different types of gliomas and how various drugs affect 

them.



"They could then predict which tumor types are likely to respond to 

treatments before giving them to patients," Leach added.

----------------



TEPCO asks Aomori Pref. to host interim nuclear storage facility



AOMORI, Japan, Feb. 18 (Kyodo) - Tsunehisa Katsumata, president of 

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), asked Aomori Prefecture on 

Wednesday for permission to set up Japan's first interim storage 

facility for spent nuclear fuel in the city of Mutsu by 2010.



Although Aomori Gov. Shingo Mimura, who met with Katsumata, did not 

give the immediate go-ahead, Katsumata told reporters after the 

meeting that the company believes it is possible to start operating 

the facility as planned.



Amid local worries that the planned temporary storage facility will 

become permanent, Mimura said the prefectural government will first 

examine the feasibility of a reprocessing plant which is under 

construction in the village of Rokkasho.



Interim storage facilities are planned to store spent nuclear fuel 

until its reprocessing to be recycled.



"We will start considering the interim storage facility after first 

assessing the soundness, quality guarantees and other measures to 

start the operation of Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.'s reprocessing 

facility in Rokkasho," Mimura told reporters.



Katsumata accepted Mimura's stance, saying, "An interim storage 

facility will make sense only when the construction and operation of 

a reprocessing plant goes smoothly," but he added that is unlikely to 

hinder TEPCO's plan.



A plan to lure the project to the city near Rokkasho was announced 

last June by Mutsu Mayor Masashi Sugiyama.



According to TEPCO, the facility will store about 5,000 tons of spent 

nuclear fuel for 50 years, and discussions on ways to take the fuel 

out for the period after that will be held with local governments by 

the 40th year of its operation.



The plant will comprise two buildings and TEPCO aims to start 

constructing the first one around 2007 so it will start operations by 

2010, TEPCO officials said.



A company to be jointly set up with Japan Atomic Power Co. will take 

charge of the construction and operation of the facility, they said.



TEPCO and Japan Atomic Power plan to closely examine their candidate 

premises before seeking government permission for the project upon 

approval from the governor.



However, concerns persist among local residents because more spent 

nuclear fuel is produced annually at nationwide power plants than the 

reprocessing plant's capacity, and the destination of the fuel after 

the projected storage has not been decided

.

------------------------------------

Sandy Perle

Vice President, Technical Operations

Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.

3300 Hyland Avenue

Costa Mesa, CA 92626



Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100  Extension 2306

Fax:(714) 668-3149



E-Mail: sperle@globaldosimetry.com

E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net



Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/

Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.globaldosimetry.com/



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