Work to start on two more nuclear reactors at Daya Bay in 2006
They will improve reliability of the Guangdong power supply
Guangdong is to begin building an additional two nuclear reactors in Daya Bay in 2006 to improve the reliability of the province's power supply.
A spokeswoman for the Ling Ao Nuclear Power Company yesterday confirmed a mainland news report that two more nuclear reactors are scheduled to be built in 2006. They will comprise the second phase of development of the Ling Ao nuclear power station, which adjoins the original Daya Bay nuclear plant. The first two reactors at Ling Ao began operation in May last year and January this year. The area is 50km northeast of Hong Kong.
Unlike the Daya Bay plant, which belongs to the Guangdong Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company, a partnership with Hong Kong's CLP Power, the Ling Ao facility will be part of Guangdong's power grid.
Hong Kong imports about 70 per cent of the power generated from the Daya Bay plant, which began commercial operation in 1994.
The reactors at the Ling Ao plant, like those in operation at Daya Bay, are pressurised water reactors - regarded as one of the safest designs in use.
'The project is now being scrutinised by the State Council and is expected to be approved this month. Construction of the two reactors will begin in 2006,' the spokeswoman said.
The cost of their construction is not known.
They will not be the only investments in power generation in the energy-hungry province.
It has been reported that two more nuclear plants will be built at Yangjiang and Taishan in western coastal Guangdong.
Lee Boon-ying, assistant director of the Hong Kong Observatory, said the siting of additional reactors in the Daya Bay area was not expected to have much impact on the city. 'We found no difference in our monitoring data when the first two Ling Ao reactors came on stream last year.
'Therefore we believe there will not be any significant changes with more reactors,' he said.
