China looks to nuclear power to ease winter heating woes

Shanghai

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 - though developers say the risks are minimal.

State-owned China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) recently conducted a successful 168-hour trial run in Beijing for a small, dedicated "district heating reactor" (DHR) it has named the "Yanlong".

With the north facing natural gas shortages as cities switch away from coal, CNNC presented the "DHR-400" as an alternative heat supplier for t…