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xchrom

(108,903 posts)
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:20 AM Jun 2014

China Regulators ‘Overwhelmed’ as Reactors Built at Pace

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-18/french-nuclear-regulator-says-china-cooperation-lacking.html

China is moving quickly to become the first country to operate the world’s most powerful atomic reactor even as France’s nuclear regulator says communication and cooperation on safety measures with its Chinese counterparts are lacking.

In the coastal city of Taishan, 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the financial hub of Hong Kong, Chinese builders are entering the final construction stages for two state-of-the-art European Pressurized Reactors. Each will produce about twice as much electricity as the average reactor worldwide.

France has a lot riding on a smooth roll out of China’s EPRs. The country is home to Areva SA (AREVA), which developed the next-generation reactor, and utility Electricite de France SA, which oversees the project. The two companies, controlled by the French state, need a safe, trouble-free debut in China to ensure a future for their biggest new product in a generation. And French authorities have not hidden their concerns.

“It’s not always easy to know what is happening at the Taishan site,” Stephane Pailler, head of international relations at France’s Autorite de Surete Nucleaire regulator, said in an interview. “We don’t have a regular relationship with the Chinese on EPR control like we have with the Finnish,” said Pailler referring to another EPR plant under construction in Finland.
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China Regulators ‘Overwhelmed’ as Reactors Built at Pace (Original Post) xchrom Jun 2014 OP
Wait, what? GliderGuider Jun 2014 #1
 

GliderGuider

(21,088 posts)
1. Wait, what?
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:42 AM
Jun 2014

But we have been told repeatedly on this very site that Chinese policy is to abandon nuclear and coal, and to power their burgeoning global economy with whirligigs!

Were we misinformed??? Say it ain't so, Joe!

</sarcasm>

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