China plans strategic uranium reserve: Report

Beijing, Apr 18: China plans to set up a national strategic uranium reserve as part of its five-year plan for the nuclear industry, the semi-official China News Service reported today.

Beijing would encourage careful exploitation of domestic uranium deposits and the stockpile would include both Chinese and imported uranium, the report said.

It also suggested it would be linked up with a commercial stockpile system to ensure an adequate fuel supply for electricity generation.

China plans a rapid expansion of its nuclear power plants to 40 gigawatts -- around half the United Kingdom's entire capacity -- by 2020, from under 10 gigawatts at present.

Its uranium deposits, which must also provide fuel for its nuclear weapons programme, are relatively limited so China has been looking overseas for supplies.

But global prices are now closing in on 100 dollar a lb and could climb sharply higher as more governments embrace atomic energy despite dwindling supplies of yellowcake to power the reactors.

A new reactor takes a first fill of uranium of around 600 tonnes, then consumers 200 tonnes per year.

In January, China signed a deal with Australia -- which has around 40 percent of the world's recoverable uranium reserves -- covering civilian use of the nuclear fuel, that will allow its firms to begin selling yellowcake to China within months.

Reuters