CHENGDU: The country's first experimental fast nuclear reactor will begin trials in 2010, said Kang Rixin, general manager of China National Nuclear Corporation.

The reactor is expected to burn 60-70 per cent of its uranium fuel, while a conventional reactor consumes only 0.7 per cent of the uranium it is fed.

As the reactor can increase the utility rate of uranium, it will be of significance in solving the country's energy crunch, Kang said.

Kang made the remarks at the ongoing 21st International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Fusion Energy Conference in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The six-day conference, which will wrap up on Saturday, has attracted 830 scientists, 750 from overseas.

China started its research into fast nuclear reactor technology in 1995 and has invested 1.4 billion yuan (US$175 million) in the construction of the experimental reactor.

Construction of the reactor is part of the country's energy strategy, and comes amid concerns over fuel supplies.

And fast nuclear reactor technology is not the only area of investigation.

According to Pan Chuanhong, director of the Southwestern Institute of Physics of China National Nuclear Corporation, China has been researching nuclear fusion as an alternative energy source for the last 40 years.

Scientists have studied the feasibility of using deuterium or heavy hydrogen from seawater to create nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion is how the Sun produces energy.

Theoretically, under complete nuclear fusion, the deuterium in one litre of seawater can produce energy equivalent to the burning of 300 litres of petroleum, Pan said.

Some countries started feasibility studies into fusion energy in the late 1940s.

China, which entered the field in 1965 with the so-called "Human-made Sun" programme, has built a Tokamak reactor, in which nuclear fusion takes place, at the Southwestern Institute of Physics.

Nuclear fusion is different from nuclear fission, the reaction used in most nuclear power stations at the moment. Nuclear fission creates safety problems and its waste is almost impossible to treat.

Calling fusion a safer and more environmentally friendly alternative to fission, Werner Burkart, deputy director-general of the IAEA, said that the potential to develop fusion energy is unlimited.

"You don't need to buy it from Australia or Canada. You can take it (deuterium) from the sea," he told China Daily.

However, Pan admitted that the first nuclear fusion plant won't be built until the middle of the century.

The conference in Chengdu marked the first occasion the meeting has been held in a developing country. China was chosen due to its achievements in nuclear fusion research.

Source: China Daily