AECL Canada Loses China Contract, China, Nuclear Reactors & Related

China shuts out AECL on $5-billion reactors -- Second major loss this year for company; Chrétien had lobbied hard to make deal Simon Tuck, June 13, 05

AECL had hoped to sell two new Candu reactors to the Qinshan nuclear plant in China's Zhejiang province, where the federally owned atomic technology company sold a pair of reactors in 1997. AECL also hoped that the previous sale and frequent lobbying from former prime minister Jean Chrétien would provide an advantage now that the plant is boosting capacity.

The sale is believed to be worth about $5-billion, one of the industry's biggest deals in years. The contract now appears to be headed to one of three other foreign bidders, all of whom offer pressurized-water technology as opposed to Candu's heavy-water version, which relies on natural uranium.

[. . . . ] Patrick Tighe, AECL's vice-president of marketing and business development, acknowledged that the Chinese have said they intend to select a vendor that uses pressurized-water-reactor technology, which is offered by many of AECL's rivals, including Paris-based Areva, the world's largest nuclear reactor builder. Areva has already supplied four of China's nine working nuclear plants. The other key bidders are Britain-based Westinghouse Electric Co. and Russia's AtomStroyExport. A winner is expected to be announced by October. [. . . . ]

Related:

China Said Weighing Bids on Nuke Plants (AP via San Francisco Chronicle - June 06, 2005 4:12 AM) -- or China Said Weighing Bids on Nuke Plants (AP via ABCNEWS.com - June 06, 2005 4:03 AM) via business.com

http://www.business.com/search/rslt_default.asp?r4=t&query=areva&type=news

BEIJING Jun 6, 2005 - China is still weighing bids by competing U.S., French and Russian suppliers of nuclear power technology before making a closely watched multibillion-dollar decision on equipping two new power plants, a senior official said Monday. [. . . . ]

China Nuclear Plans $4.33 Billion Expansion for Qinshan Plant -- via China Nuclear Plans $4.33 Billion Project to Double Qinshan Plant's Output (Bloomberg - June 13, 2005 3:23 AM)

[. . . . ] Construction to double the capacity at Nuclear Power Qinshan Joint Venture Co., a China Nuclear unit, will begin in March, said General Manager Yang Lanhe. Nuclear Power Qinshan has two reactors, each of 650 megawatts, and is building another two similar-sized generating units, he said.

[. . . . ] Qinshan Nuclear Power plans to use a new form of reactor Technology that China Nuclear is developing, known as CNP 1,000, for the planned expansion, Ma said.

A design of a prototype for the reactor [. . . . ]

China Nuclear used more than 50 percent of local content . . . Areva and Siemens . . .

. . . local and foreign technology. . . .

Third Qinshan Nuclear Power Co., which operates two 700- megawatt reactors at Qinshan base, is a joint venture with partners including China Nuclear and China Electric Power Group, using technology provided by Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.

Areva, . . . .

Documents Related to the CANDU Sale to China (November 1996)

Is Canadian financing of the reactor sale to China a straight "commercial" [. . . . ] Canada gave a nuclear reactor to India, who used it to make an atomic bomb; [. . . . ]

Background and Related

Nuclear Canada Canadian Nuclear Association Electronic Newsletter Vol. IV, October 24, 2003, Number 39

[. . . . ] AECL SIGNS AGREEMENT FOR NUCLEAR TECHNICAL CO-OPERATION WITH CHINA

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the China National Nuclear Corporation for continued nuclear technology co-operation between the two countries. The agreement provides:

• For continued technical support for the two CANDU reactors at Qinshan Phase 3;
• For assessment of the potential for CANDUs to use recycled fuel from light water reactors and from thorium
• For co-operation in use of uranium resources for nuclear power;
• For co-operation in commercialization of CANDU technology outside China; and
• For improvement of China's nuclear power plant equipment design capability.

"This agreement is expected to lead to a further deepening of the strong ties that exist between Canada and the Chinese nuclear industries and the establishment of a strong technical foundation for future business co-operation," said AECL President Robert Van Adel. AECL 10/21/03 [. . . . ]

American Nuclear Organization -- 2005 Nuclear News U.S. and Worldwide Wall Maps of Commercial Nuclear Power Plants - Combo




Note: I have talked with people who know something about this field and they want more nuclear reactors but, with caveats about with whom, that is, which countries; hence, I am not against nuclear reactors, just questioning deals with dangerous and/or unstable governments because of the potential for . . . who knows what.

Check the Table of Contents and the Footnotes, a great resource--402 references. There is much to search, for example: CANDU Marketing , China , Indonesia , Romania , South Korea , Turkey

Exporting Disaster~ The Cost of Selling CANDU Reactors ~ David Martin
of Nuclear Awareness Project

Executive Summary [. . . . ] * The dark underside of nuclear power has always been its potential to aid in the production of nuclear weapons, through the production of plutonium - an inevitable byproduct of reactor operation. Of all commercial reactors, the CANDU design produces the most plutonium per unit of energy, and is the most difficult to safeguard. [. . . . ]

In the case of CANDU sales to China, Natural Resources Minister Anne McLellan claims that financing for the CANDU sale to China will be on a "commercial" basis. However, the loan, thought to be about $1.5 billion, will go through a crown corporation (the Export Development Corporation) on its "Canada Account", which is carried on the books of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. The reason for this is that the loan is too big and too risky for the EDC alone, or for the private sector financial community. The EDC typically provides cheaper loans (i.e. at lower interest rates), for longer periods than commercial banks. There is some doubt as to whether the rules of the OECD [4] Consensus Agreement will be observed by AECL and its partners in the sale of CANDUs to China. Indeed, in the recent past, the OECD Consensus Agreement has been violated by one of AECL's partners. [. . . . ]

CANDU and the Bomb

The explosion of an atomic bomb by India in 1974, using plutonium from a Canadian-supplied reactor, demonstrated the very real contribution that Canadian reactors can make to nuclear weapons proliferation. Canada promptly discontinued nuclear cooperation with India. Within a few years, Canada also broke off nuclear cooperation with Pakistan because of that country's determination to pursue a nuclear weapons program in response to India's demonstrated capability. [. . . . ]

Corruption

Corruption is particularly entrenched in countries such as China, Indonesia, South Korea, and Turkey, all of which are CANDU marketing targets. AECL already has a history of using bribes to secure CANDU sales. Over $22 million in bribes - disguised as agent fees - was paid by AECL to secure sales to Argentina and South Korea. As recently as 1994, AECL's agent in South Korea was arrested and jailed for paying bribes to the head of South Korea's nuclear utility. Since AECL was first compelled to disclose "Agent Fees" in 1977, about $60 million has been paid out for dubious purposes. If bribery and corruption are the price of CANDU sales, Canada should get out of the business. [. . . . ]

Canada's nuclear exports have also contributed significantly to nuclear weapons proliferation - most dramatically with the production of plutonium by India in a Canadian-supplied reactor and the subsequent explosion of a bomb in May 1974. It is a sobering thought that the plutonium produced in a CANDU reactor can be used for bombs by any regime in any of our client countries, at any time in the next twenty thousand years - long after the reactor that produced the plutonium has been shut down, decommissioned and forgotten. [. . . . ]

---