International Symposium on Uranium Raw Material for the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Exploration, Mining, Production, Supply and Demand, Economics and Environmental Issues - IAEA CN-216

The uranium supply strategy of China

23 Jun 2014, 17:00

30m

VIC, M1 (Vienna)

Oral Uranium markets and industry Uranium markets and industry

Speaker

Mr Shangxiong Gao (China Uranium Corporation,CNNC)

Description

Nowadays, there are 28 units of nuclear power plants (NPPs) under construction in China. These plants will put into operation sequentially. Most of them will be put into operation in a couple years. The paper will present the latest status of NPP in China. It includes the latest operation NPP status and construction status of NPP. The requirement for uranium will increased substantially. As the air pollution spread rapidly from North part to Southern part, the choice to develop nuclear power is first priority. So the uranium demand will be the key issue to support the development of nuclear power plant in the future. The paper will deliver the present requirement of uranium and potential requirement in the future. This presentation will deliver the supply strategy of uranium for this increased demand in China. Domestic production is one of the channels to meet the requirement. As the uranium price keeps at low level, there will be limited the expansion of production in the short term. The exploration of economic resources is encouraged. Cutting of production costs is also a mandated in operations due to this low uranium price circumstance. The development of overseas uranium resources is another channel to supply for the Nuclear Power Plants. Through acquisition of uranium production mines, advanced uranium projects and exploration projects, China can meet the requirement of NPPs for long term. The partnership in the joint venture is also flexible as we develop uranium resources overseas. Purchasing uranium in the market is the third option. As the complementary to the supply by domestic production and overseas development, purchase uranium product in the market is simple and easy to do. The paper analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of these three channels and how these three channels combined each other in integral. It also indicates how much percentage of each channel supply the potential requirement of future NNPs. The author will present a clear picture about supply and demand of NPPs in China.