China To Develop Floating Nuclear Power Platform In Next Five Years

BEIJING (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Feb, 2017 ) ,: China will develop a floating nuclear power platform in the coming five years in an effort to provide stable power to offshore projects and promote ocean gas exploitation.

Vice director of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, Wang Yiren told Peoples Daily on Monday that Chinese authorities had already carried out research on relevant core technologies as well as the standardization of maritime nuclear power plants.

He said the development of the facility was a crucial part of China's five-year economic development plan, running through 2020. According to Wang, China will not be the first country to employ floating nuclear power plants.

In the 1960s, the U.S. installed a nuclear reactor inside the hull of a freighter to provide electricity for the Panama Canal Zone. Ever since, nuclear reactors have been used on American and Russian ships to provide electrical power.

Once China's own platform has been created, the design will be put to use in ocean gas and oil exploitation. The country is doing its own research on the project, as well as seeking cooperation with Russia to hasten the process, Wang added.

Some experts believe that the development of nuclear power will constitute an important component of China�s future energy sector, as the average global proportion of electricity generated by nuclear power is 11 percent, while the number for China is only 3 percent.

The nuclear industry has been booming in China in recent years, especially since the Chinese government drew on lessons learned from the Fukushima accident in 2011 and introduced a full range of nuclear emergency precautions, including the publication of a nuclear safety white paper in January 2016. APP/asg/ahn