Today's blog combines technical information about a new generation of small Chinese nuclear reactors with geopolitical issues in the South China Sea. When dealing with multiple topics in a single article, there are always issues with respect to how to present the different aspect and in what order. For today, I am going to talk about the technical issues before the geopolitical issues.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Nuclear Energy Safety Technology in Hefei, Anhui province in China, is working on what is being referred to as the smallest nuclear reactor design for commercial use. The People's Liberation Army of China is providing part of the funding for the project. The Institute hopes to have production models ready to ship within five years.
The new reactors are called "hedianbao", or "portable nuclear battery pack". They based on an old Soviet design that was used to power submarines in the 1970s. The units use lead to cool the reactor and transfer heat. They will be about twenty feet long and about eight and a half feet wide. They can be transported in shipping containers. One fueling will last for decades. The reactors can generation about ten megawatts of heat. If the heat is used to produce electricity, it is estimated that this type of reactor could power about fifty thousand homes. It will not product dust or smoke and so will not pollute the local environment. The reactors will be located on floating platforms.
There is an ongoing territorial dispute between China and the Philippines over the ownership of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. China has occupied these islands and has been dredging and extending them. An international Tribunal recently denied China's claim to the Islands but China denied the authority of the tribunal. There are also five other nations that are arguing about territorial waters in the South China Sea. The U.S. has been sailing naval vessels in the area as a show of force. A great deal of international shipping flows through the Straits of Malacca in the South China Sea and many nations are concerned about China working to claim the whole Sea. As tensions have increase, China has been considering starting full time patrols by nuclear submarines in the South China Sea.
One of the first areas that is being considered by China for the deployment of the new reactors is the Spratly Islands. The China National Nuclear Corporation is talking about building up to twenty of these reactors to power homes and businesses on the Spratly Islands. This is consistent with the ongoing development of infrastructure on the islands by China.
These reactors could be used to desalinate the water as well as for providing electricity. Unfortunately for the marine environment, the heat generated by the reactors will have serious detrimental effect on fish. The desalinization will increase the salinity in the area and could affect fish. A nuclear accident could lead radioactive materials that would wind up in fish and be carried by ocean currents to other nations in the area.
The introduction of these reactors into the South China Sea cannot fail to increase tensions even further between China and other nations in the area, as well as the U.S.
