法國電力EDF向中國台山核電站取經

When Chinese planners decided to build a nuclear power plant on a rain-lashed cove in the south of the country, they simply relocated more than 1,000 villagers to nearby towns.

當中國規劃人員決定在華南一個常受大雨襲擊的海灣建設核電站時，他們只需將逾1000名村民重新安置在附近的城鎮。

Contrast that with EDF, a French utility, which is building a similar plant in southwest England. To minimise disruption to the neighbours, human and otherwise, it had to build a bypass road around the nearest town, relocate bat roosts and create man-made burrows for about 60 badgers.

相比之下，正在英格蘭西南部建設類似核電站的法國電力集團(EDF)，爲了把對鄰近地區的人或其他生物的破壞降至最低，不得不圍繞最近的城鎮修建一條繞行道路，將蝙蝠的棲息地重新安置在其他地方，併爲大約60只獾修建了人造洞穴。

Despite the differences, EDF is hoping to learn a lot from Taishan, where state-owned China General Nuclear is constructing two European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs). The main lesson: how to build a nuclear power station fast and on budget.

儘管有以上不同，EDF還是希望能夠從台山核電站學到很多東西。在臺山，中國國有的中國廣核集團(China General Nuclear Power Group)將建造兩座歐洲壓水式反應堆(EPR)。EDF希望從該項目中學到的主要經驗是：如何快速按預算建設核電站。

It is a lesson that is crucial for the future of the EPR. Each reactor is an enormous structure designed to withstand a direct hit by an aircraft, or the kind of flooding that devastated the Fukushima reactor during Japan’s 2011 tsunami. But building such safety margins into the design is expensive.

這一經驗對於歐洲壓水式反應堆的未來至關重要。每座反應堆都是一個巨大的建築結構，其設計要能承受飛機的直接撞擊，或者2011年日本海嘯期間摧毀福島反應堆的那種洪水襲擊。然而，在設計方案中加入這樣的安全裕度造價十分高昂。

The other two EPRs that are under construction – in Olkiluoto, Finland, and Flamanville in France – have been hit by severe delays and cost overruns. That’s allowed Taishan, which started third, to pull ahead, although it too has been delayed by about two years from its original end-2013 commissioning target by slower-than-expected construction, and a safety review of all reactors in China. The £16bn Hinkley Point C project in Somerset will meet about 7 per cent of the UK’s electricity demand. EDF has brought in CGN and rival nuclear operator China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) as minority partners, partly in the hope they can contribute financing for future nuclear bids in Britain and elsewhere.

目前，另外兩座正在建造的歐洲壓水式反應堆已遭遇嚴重的工期延誤和超支，分別位於芬蘭奧爾基洛託(Olkiluoto)和法國弗拉芒維爾(Flamanville)。這使得原本第三個開工的台山核電站跑在了前面。不過，比起2013年底投產的最初目標，台山核電站工期也延誤了大約兩年，原因一方面是建設進度比預期要慢，另一方面則是中國對所有反應堆開展的安全審覈。薩默塞特(Somerset)欣克利角C核電站(Hinkley Point C)造價爲160億英鎊，將滿足英國約7%的電力需求。EDF將中國廣核集團和它的對手、核能運營商中國核工業集團公司(CNNC)都爭取爲少數合夥人，部分原因是希望這兩個集團能夠爲未來在英國和其他地方開展的核能競標提供資金。

“It would be a fantastic opportunity if we could tap into their experience to make sure that our project is successful at Hinkley,” Nigel Cann, Hinkley Point C’s construction director, said this month when he toured the Taishan site.

欣克利角C核電站工程建設總監奈傑爾•卡恩(Nigel Cann)這個月考察台山施工現場時表示：“這可能是一次絕佳的機遇，我們或許能用他們的經驗，確保我們在欣克利角的項目成功。”

Much is at stake. For EDF to win export markets for the EPR, developed along with French engineering company Areva and Siemens of Germany, it needs to lower costs and reduce construction hitches.

對EDF來說，此事事關重大。要想爲該公司與法國工程公司阿海琺(Areva)和德國西門子(Siemens)一道開發的歐洲壓水式反應堆技術打開出口市場，該公司必須降低成本，並減少工程建設過程中的磕磕絆絆。

Maximising efficiency is also very important for the UK’s nuclear ambitions. Hinkley Point is the first of 5 new nuclear power plants that the government envisages will come on line by the end of the 2020s.

效率最大化對英國的核電理想也非常重要。英國政府計劃在2030年之前投入運行5座新的核電站，欣克利角核電站是其中的第一座。

That pales in comparison with China’s nuclear vision. The country currently has 20 reactors operating and about 35 slated for completion in the next six years.

這與中國的核電前景相比實在是相形見絀。中國目前運行的核反應堆有20個，而且計劃在未來6年再完工35個左右。

Even before the start of construction, the new Hinkley Point reactor was controversial.

而新的欣克利角反應堆尚未啓動建設，就已處於爭議中。

To persuade EDF and its Chinese partners to build the plant, the British government signed a 35-year contract that guarantees a price of £92.50 per megawatt hour for Hinkley’s electricity – twice the current wholesale market rate. Some condemned it as a very large subsidy for nuclear.

爲說服EDF及其中國合作伙伴建設這座核電站，英國政府簽訂了一份35年的合同，保證欣克利角核電站的每兆瓦時電價爲92.5英鎊，這個價格是當前批發電價的兩倍。有些人指責說這是對核電的一筆極爲龐大的補貼。

The contract is now undergoing a state aid investigation by the European Commission. In its initial assessment in January, Brussels said the UK was potentially wasting up to £17.6bn of taxpayer support on the plant.

該合約目前正接受歐盟委員會(European Commission)的國家補助調查。布魯塞爾方面在1月的初步評估中表示，英國可能在支持這個核電站上浪費高達176億英鎊納稅人的錢。

The Commission will not reveal its decision until later this year. But EDF, which operates all but one of Britain’s existing nuclear power plants, is proceeding with its plans for Hinkley anyway, including regular fact-finding trips to Taishan.

歐盟委員會將在今年晚些時候公佈結論。但EDF（英國現有核電站除一家外都爲其所有）已在推進欣克利角計劃，其中包括定期前往中國台山核電站進行實地考察。

In Somerset, the company has contracted with local vocational schools to train steelworkers. In China, two decades of frenzied building have produced a workforce experienced in handling steel and concrete.

這家公司已在薩默塞特與當地職業學校簽訂了培訓鍊鋼工人的合約。中國在20年的瘋狂建設中，培養出了一批鋼鐵和水泥作業的熟練勞動力。

Guo Ruiting, whose business card reads “Boffin Senior Engineer” started building power plants 30 years ago when EDF constructed CGN’s Daya Bay reactor. He noted with pride that his team poured the 9,200 cubic meters of concrete for the base of the Taishan reactor in one continuous shot.

早在30年前EDF建設中國廣核集團的大亞灣反應堆時，名片上印着“專家級高級工程師”的郭瑞廷（音）就已開始參與建造核電站。他自豪地說他的團隊在澆築台山反應堆的地基時，一次性連續澆灌了9200立方米水泥。

“We thought we would be able to learn from Finland and France, because they started before us,” says Olivier Bard, deputy general manager at Taishan. “But now we are the ones who have to figure everything out for the first time.”

“我們之前以爲可以借鑑芬蘭和法國，因爲他們起步得比我們早。”台山核電站副總經理奧利弗•巴德(Olivier Bard)說，“但現在我們纔是必須在一切方面開闢新道路的人。”