China and Russia Talk Nuclear Power

China may lend Russia money to build a floating energy unit for a nuclear power plant being constructed in Severodvinsk.

Russia is building a floating atomic power plant in Severodvinsk under a 2003 contract signed between China’s Mashimpex and the Russian companies Rosenergoatom and Sudoimport, Novosti reported.

A source in the Russian delegation visiting Beijing told Novosti that China also plans to design a pilot energy unit with a 600 megawatt fast-neutron facility based on a closed fuel cycle.

Russia and China may also jointly develop an experimental ground-based reactor prototype for a space energy unit, the source said.

The source said Russia’s cooperation with China in the nuclear fuel cycle has strong potential, given China’s plans to bring the capacity of its atomic power plants up to 200 gigawatts by 2020.