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[cdn-nucl-l] SECOND CANDU IN CHINA PRODUCES FIRST ELECTRICITY

Some very good news!

Ken received a CNS Outstanding Contribution Award for his leadership on this
project (ahead of schedule and under budget!), and other offshore CANDU
projects.
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SECOND CANDU IN CHINA PRODUCES FIRST ELECTRICITY

The second of two CANDU nuclear reactors at Qinshan, China was connected to
the Chinese electrical grid and produced its first electricity on Thursday,
June 12, 2003. Commissioning of the second CANDU has been as trouble-free as
the first CANDU, and provisional acceptance of the nuclear reactor by its
customer is now expected to occur in August rather than December, 2003.
Completion of the two CANDUs in China has been achieved more rapidly than
that of any other nuclear plants in China, including China's own nuclear
reactor technology.

AECL Vice-President Ken Petrunik noted a number of important innovations for
nuclear construction during the Qinshan Phase III project to build the two
CANDUs that led to such rapid construction with a higher degree of quality
control. Speaking at the CNS Annual Conference on June 9 in Toronto, Mr.
Petrunik said that Qinshan was the first nuclear reactor project where all
of the designs were electronic and in real time, not on paper, and hence
available to design and construction teams in Canada and China
simultaneously. He observed that open top construction using heavy lift
cranes has allowed much more rapid installation of large components as
complete modules with better quality control. For example, normal nuclear
plant construction would require weeks to install the steam generators. At
Qinshan, this task was achieved in eight hours.

A large number of Canadian companies contributed to the success of the
Qinshan project, and Mr. Petrunik noted the specific roles of Canatom-NPM in
procurement and site construction management and Hydro Quebec for operator
and crew training.

Editor's note: the full presentation of Mr. Petrunik will be posted on the
CNA website.