Russia Begins Nuclear Shipments

The first shipment of nuclear fuel has been sent from Russia for the Tianwan nuclear power station in China. An ITAR-TASS correspondent was told today that "163 fuel rods and some extra reserves of fuel needed for the physical launch of the first power unit of the Chinese nuclear power station, which is being built with the involvement of Russian specialists, have been shipped by railway from the Novosibirsk chemical concentrates factory to China".

According to the official representative of the company, "loading was carried out in accordance with the 1997 contract". According to the construction plan "the physical launch of the first unit of this nuclear power station is scheduled for April 2004, while the unit will be hooked up to China's power grid in 2005", the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy said.