China to invite bidding on nuclear power plants

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

http://english.people.com.cn/200409/07/eng20040907_156124.html

China will put up a number of nuclear power projects for public bidding in the next one or two months, said a senior official Monday in Sydney.

Vice Minister Zhang Guobao in charge of the State Development and Reform Commission told the World Energy Congress here that the projects will involve mega-watts pressurized water reactor nuclear power stations.

The projects will be the first in China's new nuclear power stations to be built over the next 16 years that will add a total of 30 million mega-watts to the country's power production capacity.

China's nuclear power production now only constitutes about 1.8 percent of the total electric power generated, but the rate will rise to 4 percent by 2020, he said.

Coal will continue to be the main energy source for China in the future, while the production of nuclear and renewable energy will be "moderately increased" to deliver sustainability, said Zhang.

<snip>

I'll bet Dubya steps up and tells 'em they can't have 'em.
Not.

[Maple]

1. China has long had

nuclear power.

[AmandaRuth]

2. does halliburton or the caryle group

build nuke plants?

[steely]

5. I don't know for sure, but Canada's CANDU and Bechtel

worked together in China on at least 2 units that went online on budget and ahead of schedule - I don't know if the CANDU reactor is a pressurized water reactor (PWR) - the kind mentioned in the article. The other type is a BWR or boiling water reactor. GE and Westinghouse (and combustion enginering?) used to be big in the states. Two firms would get the job I imagine, a reactor Engineering firm and an architectural firm (for the bldgs, etc).

In the US, it would take 10 yrs to plan and build one I bet, in China, it probably would take 3 - less red tape.

[SidDithers]

7. Canada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) are PWR's...

or rather Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR).

Sid

[seventhson]

6. Yes, Halliburton KBR is a HUGE nuke engineering company

They are among the biggest in the business and it is KILLING us all.

see www.radiation.org

[WVhill]

8. Neither Halliburton or the Carlye Group have ever built a nuke.

Most of the companies that built them in the past were merged into other companies. Bechtel is probably one of the few American companies that has the engineering and management resources to build a nuclear power plant. While a supplier such as Westinghouse which no longer exists as an independent business or GE has the the ability to put together an advanced design nuclear steam supply system, you still need an engineering/construction firm to design and build the facilities, install the equipment along with all the electrical, piping and instrumentation and go through the startup process which alone can take a significant period of time.

[seventhson]

12. Kellog Brown and Root is a subsidiary of Halliburton and ENGINEERS

nukes

I guess the actual construction may be Bechtel etc. -- but they do so in collusion with Halliburton

[WVhill]

14. I've never known Bechtel to partner with another construction company.

The one possible exception was TMI where the DOE forced GPU to accept Bechtel as the general manager of the cleanup. At that time Catalytic, since bought out, had the maintenance contract which meant that Bechtel couldn't go to the hall for crafts, they had to work through Catalytic. It was pretty ugly and not something Bechtel chose to do.

[seventhson]

15. I was wrong - They DO construct nukes:

here's a link or two:

p://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/profiles/haliburton/haliburton.htm

http://www.endgame.org/halliburton.html

[Oilwellian]

3. I bet ole Rummy jumps on the bandwagon

He certainly had no problem with profiting from North Korea's nuclear power plants.

[Massacure]

4. Does China design their own power plants?

Western designs are safe, but I would worry if China may try to cut corners because of their energy crunch.

[WVhill]

9. At the height of nuclear plant construction there were only 4 companies

that built almost all of the NSSS in the US. Designing a nuclear steam supply system is not a trivial task. The Chinese will probably require a technology transfer so they do it themselves in the future.

[w4rma]

10. China's government is much more corrupt that even BushCo is.

Therefore, I fully expect that whomever gets the contract for this will be allowed to cut major corners and jet out of that country with millions more in their bank accounts.

[WVhill]

11. You are correct. The big boys make Bushco look like chump change.

You need to watch how the successful bidder manages the process. If they set up a different corporate entity, then you can assume there's some sort of risk involved that the general public may not be privy to.

As for the kickbacks. Absolutely. The mess involving a lawsuit between a country and a US company years ago had a basis in fact. It wasn't proven in court but years later I talked to the bagman that carried the cash to Switzerland to make the deposit. He worked for the company in an accounting position. He was gone by the time the supoenas arrived. There's a reason cash was used.

[seventhson]

13. Not quite: Bushco and China are LIKETHIS and are equally corrupt

The Bushes opened up China when GHWBush was Nixon's ambassador to China and Bushco got a major foothold there making BILLIONS.

[dArKeR]

16. China, India lead revival of nuclear power

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2004/09/08/2003202126