I've been googling around on CGNPC to find out why these guys...

I've been googling around on CGNPC to find out why these guys want our mine? (Looks like they are getting it for peanuts!!!)

Their business plan goes well beyond powering up China (400 GWe by 2050). Its more about world domination of the nuclear power industry. Their strategy to achieve this is through product and price.

CGNPC not only owns power stations in China, they manufacture the CPR-1000 reactor. See here.

They expect to sell the CPR-1000 (or rather the ACPR-1000) for about US$1.5 billion. Which is about half the price of any competitor's reactor. They have about 20 of them currently on the production line. They intend providing full technical support service for their reactors.

Of course they need to feed all these hungry reactors. So they plan to mine and process uranium and make the fuel assemblies too. I understand they plan to make other half priced fuel assemblies for other reactors as well.

So they get the best mine in the world for the cost of one reactor. This will enable them to guarantee fuel supply and generating capacity to both China and their other customers.

Links:

First-CPR-1000.

China's Nuclear Plans Forge Ahead.

cgnpc.com.cn.

Milestones for Chinese nuclear program.