Geographical neighbours and economic giants, the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of Korea  (ROK) have announced ambitious plans to initiate new nuclear power projects or enhance its share significantly in their national energy programmes. South Korea has announced the addition of ten additional nuclear power plants by 2030, which would take the share of nuclear power in the generation of electricity to 41 per cent of domestic demand.

Already the world's second largest energy user, PRC is mulling increasing the share of nuclear power in its installed power-generating capacity to 5 per cent by 2020, an increase of one per cent over its 2007 projection of 4 per cent. It has already announced the construction of new nuclear plants at various locations around the country and for the first time in inland areas.

South Korea's ministry of knowledge economy unveiled new nuclear policy measures on Thursday saying they would boost energy self-reliance and diversify energy sources, acting as a counter to tight global supply and soaring prices of  crude oil and other fossil fuels.

According to the S. Korean ministry under the new plan the new nuclear power plants would  generate 29 per cent of the country's electricity needs by 2020 and take it further to 41 per cent by 2030. South Korea currently operates 20 nuclear power plants that produce 17.72 million kilowatts of power, or 26 per cent of national electricity demand.

Early in the week, China announced that a nuclear plant would be built in its southernmost province of Hainan, a province that had been suffering power shortages since 2006.

Plans have also been finalised to build the country's first inland nuclear power plant in  Xianning City, 421 kilometers southeast of Yichang City where the Three Gorges dam lies.

Plans are also afoot to construct a new nuclear power plant in Chongqing municipality, the first such facility in southwest China. On the southern bank of the Yangtze river, Chongqing is the largest city in southwest China.

In recent years, droughts and coal shortages have constantly disrupted power supply.

Statistics show that currently China's 11 nuclear power plants have a combined installed capacity of 9 million kw, which is only 1.3 per cent of the country's total power installed capacity. In 2007, the amount of power generated by nuclear power plants was 1.9 per cent of the total amount of power generated, lower than the world average.

In accordance with the communist nation's medium-and long-term plan for the Development of Nuclear Power Plants, the country will expand installed capacity of nuclear power to 40 million kw, or four per cent of the national total power installed capacity, by 2020.

Even this is slated to increase to more than 5 per cent, or 50 million kw by 2020.

Speaking in March, Zhang Guobao, head of China's National Energy Administration, said the country will "accelerate the development of nuclear power plants in the coastal areas. It will plan in a scientific manner for the development of nuclear power plants in the inland areas. China will strive to increase its total nuclear power installed capacity, making it reach more than five per cent of the country's total power installed capacity."

Zhang said the readjustment in plans was necessitated after the country's central and southern regions were devastated by heavy snow in January and February, where trunk railways and power grids were severely damaged. Nature's havoc had shown that the country's energy security was under threat from a "fragile supply-demand balance" of coal, which is mainly transported from northern China to power the economic hubs in the southern and eastern regions.

He said the authorities weighed the gains and risks from speeding up the construction of nuclear power plants. "All sides (policymakers and the public) have reached the consensus that nuclear energy is an ideal option for China," he said.

According to Zhang, with the industrialization of key technologies and proper waste disposal, the country was capable of realizing the increased use of nuclear power.

Of China's 11 nuclear power plants three use domestic technology, two are based on Russian technology, four use French technology and two are Canadian-designed.

The fast track approach adopted by China in clearing new nuclear power projects over the last few months also reflects the country's anxiety to ease the energy crunch within the country that has resulted from fast economic growth and escalating prices of commodities, particularity fossil fuel, around the world.

Alternative energy
South Korea has also said that alternative energy, such as wind and other renewable sources, will also meet 11 per cent of demand by 2030, up from 2.4 per cent last year.

China's Zhang Guobao also emphasised the importance of  wind power in China. He said this source of energy had already exceeded energy development plan targets and the country was set to become the world's largest generator of wind power.

The Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Gansu and Jiangsu provinces had been picked to hold the country's first batch of wind power clusters that would generate 10 million kW each, Zhang said.
This compares with about 18 million kW to be generated from the Three Gorges dam generators on the Yangtze River.

He said when all the wind farms are put into operation by 2013, China will surpass Germany as the world's biggest wind power producer. Currently, Germany has the wind power capacity of 22 million kW.