China is planning to build its first very-high-temperature gas-cooled reactor by the year 2010. This will be the first such reactor in the world, CRI reported on Friday.

Currently, China's prestigious Tsinghua University, the China Huaneng Group and the China Nuclear Engineering and Construction (Group) Corporation are turning their hands to the construction of this new nuclear reactor.

China is now regarded as having a leading role in new nuclear technologies worldwide.

Nuclear energy, which is considered a relatively clean energy source, is being seen as an important source of the energy China needs to power its economic development over coming decades.

The Very-High-Temperature Reactor is a graphite-moderated, helium-cooled reactor with a once-through uranium fuel cycle.

The Very-High-Temperature Reactor system is designed as a high-efficiency system that can supply process heat to a broad spectrum of high-temperature and energy-intensive, non-electric processes.

(CRI February 5, 2006)