The Role of Nuclear Energy in Reducing the Environmental Impact of China's Energy Utilization

Abstract

It is presented in this paper the current status of China's energy market and the projections of its future development. China's energy market, currently and in the next decades, is mainly characterized by rapidly increasing demand and dominant role of coal which is directly related to serious environmental pollution. The role of nuclear energy utilization in improving the primary energy infrastructure is addressed. Status and development of nuclear power generation are described. Potential of introducing nuclear energy into heat market is discussed. An overview of the research and development work of water cooled low temperature heating reactors and gas-cooled high temperature gas cooled reactors in China is given and the technical and safety features of these two reactor types are briefly described.