In the just-concluded China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue, the most concerned outcomes of the nuclear industry are undoubtedly the Memorandum of Understanding on Further Strengthening the Westinghouse AP1000 Nuclear Reactor Nuclear Safety Cooperation between the National Nuclear Security Administration and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

According to informed sources, the China National Nuclear Security Administration will introduce a series of standards and technical methods for the nuclear safety monitoring of the Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactor by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

At the same time, in the main pump manufacturing plant of Cotis White in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wang Binghua, chairman of the National Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (hereinafter referred to as “National Nuclear Technology”), eagerly awaits the results of the experiment: within 72 hours. , the world's first three generations of nuclear power

The AP1000 main pump will perform cold and hot experiments, as well as experiments with the main pump at normal operating temperatures and pressures.

Wang Binghua has realized that the Chinese nuclear power community, including himself, is paying attention to this experiment. Wang Binghua waited for the success of the experiment, and this is the world's first third-generation nuclear power AP1000 main pump experiment breakthrough.

From theory to the real world, the AP1000 seems to have come to fruition.

Subtle changes in the pattern

The technical breakthrough of the main pump undoubtedly injected a potent agent for the supporters of the Westinghouse AP1000 theory in the world: this means that the AP1000 will be able to be widely applied, which also allows the national nuclear technology that has been supporting the application of the third generation nuclear power technology. Opened the dark clouds of outside doubts.

"The success of this intermediate experiment is a major breakthrough in the process of manufacturing the key equipment of nuclear islands in China's third-generation nuclear power autonomous project," said Wang Binghua.

Since the national nuclear technology is a company established to introduce the AP1000, a close contact with Wang Binghua told reporters that Wang Binghua has always regarded the AP1000 main pump experiment as the most important difficulty in the application of the Westinghouse AP1000 technology. Therefore, he personally went to the United States to watch the experiment.

The AP1000, which previously represented the most advanced third-generation nuclear power technology, only stayed in the theoretical stage, and did not have an AP1000 main pump actually running, which also made the AP1000 technology controversial.

A person familiar with the matter told reporters that because the AP1000 technology was not implemented in any nuclear power plant, it was controversial from the Chinese government's decision to spend huge sums of money to introduce the technology.

According to reports, in the first two experiments, some core components have cracked. "This experiment, the main pump uses the US military's shielded motor nuclear power technology." The person familiar with the matter told reporters that the US military's shielded motor nuclear power technology was used for the first time from military to civilian use. A 40-year maintenance-free record was achieved during the application process.

“The State Council had the intention that the nuclear power plant technology in the inland areas will be dominated by the Westinghouse AP1000. The success of the main pump experiment will play an important role in the decision of the National Development and Reform Commission, that is, whether the AP1000 technology can be promoted on a large scale.” A national nuclear technician disclose.

At present, China's nuclear power plants under construction generally use third-generation nuclear power technology, which is provided by Westinghouse and France's Areva, and China spent 13.1 billion yuan. The fourth generation of nuclear power technology CAP1400 will be independently developed by China.

At present, China's nuclear technology mainly introduces AP1000 technology, while China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. mainly uses French AREVA technology, and China Nuclear has mainly developed "second generation plus" technology. According to the reporter's understanding, the government's top management intends to let the three technologies coexist and develop their own experimental fields, but believes that the AP1000's technical theory is the most advanced.

However, a senior executive of the Chinese Nuclear Society, who asked not to be named, said that the success of an experiment would be difficult to change China's nuclear power construction pattern in the short term.

Academicians of the two academies also told reporters that the purchase of foreign third-generation nuclear power technology is entirely an expedient measure adopted by the government because of its excessive trade surplus with Europe and the United States.

People from the market department of Areva in France told reporters that they are still optimistic about the Chinese market. Obviously, in their view, the technological breakthroughs of competitors can't shake their market share.

According to the previous plan of the Energy Development Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission, by 2020, China's nuclear power installed capacity should be 70 million kilowatts, currently 30 million kilowatts under construction. It is reported that by 2020, China's nuclear power investment should be more than 280 billion yuan.

Autonomy

The first phase of the Zhejiang Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant and the first phase of the Shandong Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant are waiting for the success of the AP1000 main pump test, and Westinghouse supplies the main pump for them.

Among the Chinese teams watching the experiment in the United States, the personnel of the Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute, the Harbin Electric Group, and the Shengu Group, which participated in the main pump experiment, were equally uneasy. After the success of the main pump experiment, the localization challenge of the introduction of production is imminent, and the task of localization of the main pump will be mainly undertaken by Harbin Electric Group and Shengu Group.

As China is taking the "market-for-technology" line, according to national nuclear technology personnel, in the future China will have 10 nuclear power units using the AP1000 main pump. According to the agreement, at least four units must be purchased from Westinghouse before and after, spending more than a dozen. One hundred million U.S. dollars.

Most of the other will be localized, and the related equipment manufacturing industry will also get rich profits.

"In the future, China will have 10 nuclear power units using AP1000 main pumps, and each unit will use at least 16 main pumps. According to the agreement, China will purchase 16 main pumps of Westinghouse in the near future. In order to gradually realize localization, among them The two main pumps will be produced by Chinese companies, and two of the 16 main pumps purchased from Westinghouse will be used as spares,” said a national nuclear technician.

According to informed sources, the road of China's independent production is also very twists and turns. In the negotiation process of the main pump cooperation, the three core technicians of a Northeastern enterprise involved in independent production were sent to the United States for training. However, "the three people suddenly resigned at the same time in a very short period of time, and they went to a private enterprise in Yantai, causing a lot of losses, because many core things were taken away by them, and only some of them were later recovered. ""

In the main pump experiment, the Chinese also appointed personnel to study. “Learners need to report the learning content to China every day, do study notes, and leave a lot of information.”

It is understood that after the success of the main pump test of the AP1000, “the formal engineering design experiment and durability test will be carried out. After all the experiments are successful, the 'spring' of the domestic equipment manufacturer will come.” China Nuclear Society People commented, "There are a large number of nuclear power plants planned in China, and no country in the world has independent production capacity. Therefore, localization is a necessary process and will have a great impact on manufacturing enterprises."