My recent posts have been about breeder reactors which generate more fissile material than they consume. There is renewed global interest in breeder reactors for the production of nuclear fuel and the destruction of nuclear waste. Today's post is about the history and current status of breeder reactors in China.
The Chinese nuclear program started in the 1950s and they have developed ballistic missiles with nuclear warhead and nuclear submarines with nuclear missiles. They entered a number of treaties with regard to non-proliferation after they supplied nuclear technology and expertise to Pakistan for their nuclear program. Despite the production of tons of enriched uranium and plutonium, China did not focus on fast breeder reactors in the 1960s like the US, USSR and other nuclear powers.
In 2000, China began work on the China Experimental Fast Reactor (CEFR). It is located near Beijing at the China Institute of Atomic Energy and was built with Russian technical assistance. It was intended to give China experience in designing, constructing and operating fast breeder reactors. The CEFR is a pool type molten sodium twenty megawatt fast breeder reactor with an estimated lifespan of thirty years.
In 2009, China signed a major agreement with Russia for their assistance in building two eight hundred megawatt fast breeder reactors for power generation. Plans call for construction of the two fast breeder reactors to begin in 2013 or 2014. The stated purpose of the Chinese fast breeder reactor program is to increase the utilization of China's uranium resources and to aid in the reduction of nuclear waste.
The CEFR went critical in July of 2010 and was hooked to the Chinese power grid to generate electricity in July of 2011. In October of 2011, the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency reported that the CEFR had stopped generating power because of an accident. Japan and South Korea were afraid that a nuclear accident on the coast of China could endanger their citizens. Chinese authorities in Beijing stated that there had been no accident. They said that the CEFR had not been connected to the since July of 2011. Some articles in Chinese journals indicate that the CEFR was connected to the Chinese power grid after July of 2011.
China has announced plans to begin construction of a one gigawatt fast breeder reactor at Sanming city in 2018. Other plans have been announced for China to begin construction build a six hundred megawatt fast breeder power reactor in 2020.
Although nuclear energy currently supplies only about two percent of China's power, the Chinese have a very aggressive program for the construction of new reactors including fast breeder reactors. Considering the problems that other nuclear powers have had in getting fact breeder power reactors to work reliably and safely after fifty years of research, the Chinese may be a bit over optimistic about fast breeder reactors supplying gigawatts of power in China in the coming decades.
China Experimental Fast Reactor:
