China to deploy nuclear reactors to provide heating in northern regions

Almaty. December 11. Silkroadnews - China intends to deploy nuclear reactors for heating in the northern regions, the South China Morning Post reported.
“With its smog-prone north desperate to slash coal consumption, China is looking to deploy nuclear power to provide reliable winter heating, raising public safety concerns – even though developers say the risks are minimal,” the report said.
It is noted that the state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has already conducted a successful 168-hour trial run of a small specialized “district heating reactor” (DHR) in Beijing.
As with rejection of coal the north of the country faces a shortage of natural gas, CNNC introduced the “DHR-400” as an alternative heat supplier, with each 400-megawatt reactor capable of warming up to 200,000 urban households.
Reportedly the DHR-400 is a nuclear reactor immersed in a reservoir with water volume around the same as of an Olympic swimming pool. The project is expected to take three years and require an investment of 1.5 billion yuan ($226.7 million), with a small and relatively simple reactor that can be connected directly to existing heating networks.
According to CNNC, the technology has already been worked out and includes commercialization as the next stage. “DHR-400” will use only 2% of the radioactive sources used on a conventional 1-gigawatt nuclear power plant.