Staff Reporter
2014-09-28
Concept art for China’s nuclear power plant. (Internet photo)
The 719th Research Institute of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation was appointed to establish China’s first R&D center for floating nuclear power plants in central China’s Hubei province, reports our Chinese-language sister newspaper Want Daily.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia signed a contract with president Xi Jinping of China during his visit to Shanghai in May for the two nations to collaborate in constructing such a plant. As China Shipbuilding Industry Corp’s website writes, the floating plant will be used to provide electricity to Chinese facilities in the disputed South China Sea.
Equipped with a smaller nuclear reactor, some vessels can also be used to exploit the natural resources beneath the sea floor. When natural disasters and accidents strike, emergency assistance can be deployed from the floating station. If China gathers experience in operating such plants, they will be able to construct nuclear reactors for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in the future.
Sources from the Chinese shipbuilding industry said that Hubei province can benefit from the construction of this floating nuclear power plant. Hubei currently has 385 shipbuilding companies and 21 research institutes. Russia is currently the only nation in the world with a floating nuclear power plant. Known as Akademik Lomonosov, the plant provides up to 70MW of electricity or 300MW of heat to the city of Saint Petersburg.we
