uranium is the fuel of the future not coal, page-7

China is working on the waste problem ..........................China prepares for super efficient nuclear energy
Chinese scientists are planning super-efficient nuclear reactors that can maximize uranium burn-up and minimize waste in the generation of electricity.



If the first experimental reactor, set to be in operation by 2010, is successfl, the technology could help relieve China's uranium supply problems as the country accelerates nuclear power plant construction.

The new reactors are expected to burn 60-70 per cent of their uranium fuel - a conventional reactor consumes only 0.7 per cent of the uranium it is fed.

Current reactors are only able to harness the power of 0.7 per cent of the radioactive isotopes found in natural uranium.

In the so called "fast reactor", the process is optimized so that more of the previously untapped isotopes can be used to generate electricity, burning-up fuel at least 60 times more efficiently than in a normal reactor.

The prototype reactor, with a capacity of 600,000 kilowatts, will be constructed and put into operation by 2020. As China's economy keeps developing rapidly, demand for power also keeps increasing. To meet its growing energy demands, China has mapped out a national plan to increase nuclear generating capacity to 36,000 megawatts by 2020, up from 8,700 megawatts today. The proportion of national power output supplied by nuclear energy is expected to rise from 2.3 per cent now to 4 per cent.

From China Sun