China and Russia last week signed an $3 billion agreement to build a nuclear power plant in eastern China. The deal is one of the largest ever agreed between the two countries.
According to the Xinhua news agency, Russia will supply two 1, 000 megawatt nuclear reactors to Lianyungang in the eastern Jiangsu province. The reactors are expected to come on-line in 2004 and 2005.
China is seen by all the major nuclear power companies as one of the fastest growing markets in the world. Only one percent of China’s energy needs presently comes from nuclear power and over $60 billion is expected to be spent on nuclear reactors in the next fifteen years.
Russia is not the only player in the market. Recently both Canada and France have struck agreements with China to provide financing and technology for the country’s fledgling nuclear industry. Earlier this year, President Clinton authorized sales of US reactors to China.
