Sunday 25 May 2014

Three old nuclear power reactors were shut down worldwide during 2008, while no new units were started up. However, construction started on ten new power reactors and power uprates to several existing plants helped bolster operating capacity.The 408 MWe Bohunice 2 reactor – the second unit of the V1 plant – in Slovakia was shut down on 31 December as a condition of the country’s accession to the European Union (EU). 

In late December, Japan’s Chubu Electric Power Co announced that it had decided to permanently shut down the two oldest reactors at its Hamaoka plant. Meanwhile, the construction of ten new nuclear power reactors commenced during 2008, mainly in Asia, but also in Russia. In China, construction began on six new units: Hongyanhe 1, Fuqing 1, Ningde 1 and 2, Yangjiang 1, and Fangjiashan 1. Construction also started on Shin Wolsong 2 and Shin Kori 1 in South Korea. In Russia, building of two new units began: Leningrad II-1 and Novovoronezh II-1. Together, these units have boosted the total number of new reactors under construction worldwide to 43 (with a total capacity of 37.6 GWe), up from 33 (26.6 GWe) a year earlier. In India, Kaiga 4 and Rawatbhata 5 started up. They are both 202 MWe capacity pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) scheduled for 2008 but delayed due to fuel shortages. About a dozen power uprates during 2008 in five countries have also added to the total generating capacity of currently operating nuclear power plants.