Daya Bay

Daya Bay

General Manager: Liu Xicai

Location: Daya Bay, Shenzhen, Guangdong

Constructed and operated by the Guangdong Nuclear Power JV Company (GNPJVC), Daya Bay is equipped with two Framatome 900 MW pressure water reactors (PWR). The two reactors were put into operation on February 1 and May 6, 1994.

Some controversy has stirred over the reprocessing of spent fuel at Daya Bay. Daya Bay wanted to increase its spent fuel storage capacity by reracking its spent fuel, but under pressure from the Chinese National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), the Chinese government denied the reracking. The reracking would have delayed the removal of spent fuel for 20 years, until 2024. CNNC is responsible for spent fuel reprocessing and wanted the Daya Bay contract to finance the reprocessing plant at Lanzhou. Even though the deal with CNNC is not the least costly, GNPJVC accepted the deal in order to remove the spent fuel from the reactor site and from Guangdong.

The 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05) proposes the construction of two nuclear power plants at Daya Bay. The combined output is estimated to be 2 million kilowatts. Investment in the plant is expected to be more than 20 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion).

[Source: Tang Zongyu, "Guide to Chinese nuclear organizations," Nuclear Europe Worldscan, November/December 1999, p. 56; Mark Hibbs, "China Barred Guangdong Joint Venture from Re-racking Spent Fuel Pond," NuclearFuel, 3 April 2000; Xie Ye, "China to Build New Nuclear Power Plants in Coastal Provinces," Beijing China Daily, 13 March 2001 in FBIS CPP20010313000061.]

This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2007 by MIIS.