News on China's scientific and technological development.

China starts up first fourth-generation nuclear reactor


China Experimental Fast Reactor


CEFR interior (Photo credit: China Institute of Atomic Energy)



"China starts up first fourth generation nuclear reactor
English.news.cn 2010-07-22 07:22:44

BEIJING, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have succeeded in testing the country's first experimental fourth generation nuclear reactor, an expert said here on Wednesday.

The successful start up of the China Experimental Fast Reactor (CEFR) marked a breakthrough in China's fourth generation nuclear technology, and made China the eighth country in the world to own the technology, Zhang Donghui, general manager of the CEFR project, told Xinhua over phone.

China's existing 11 nuclear power generating units all use second generation of nuclear power generation technology. The country started the construction of its first third-generation pressurized water reactors using AP1000 technologies developed by U.S.-based Westinghouse in 2009.

Compared with the third generation reactors which have an utility rate of uranium of just one percent, CEFR boasts an utility rate of more than 60 percent.

A new recycling technology called pyroprocessing is also used to close the fuel cycle by separating the unused fuel from most of the radioactive waste.

"The CEFR is safer, more environment-friendly, and more economic than its predecessors," Zhang said."



"The Chinese Experimental Fast Reactor is so-named because the neutrons produced in its core are not ‘moderated’ with water like those that generate heat in nearly all commercial nuclear reactors. The faster neutrons can burn down nuclear waste and even generate new fuel, promising a solution to the thorny problem of waste storage as well as energy independence.

Fast reactors have proven difficult to operate because most rely on highly flammable liquid sodium to cool the reactor, but their promised benefits keep the hope alive."



"China's Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) Program

原子能快堆研究中心

China began research on fast neutron breeder reactors in the mid- and late-1960s. During its basic research period from 1965 to 1987, China's research focused on fast reactor technology such as fast reactor physics, thermodynamics, sodium technology and small sodium facility. During this initial period about 12 experimental setups were established, and one sodium loop was constructed. This included a 50 kg 235U zero-power neutron setup. On June 28 June 1970, this device reached criticality. The engineering goal for the applied basic research phase of China's FBR program (1987-1993) was to successfully construct a 65 MWt (25 MWe) experimental fast reactor. Further developments were made in sodium technology, fuel and materials, fast reactor safety, and reactor design. A preliminary foundation for a fast reactor design was established, and approximately 20 experimental setups and sodium loops were built."



"Nine years after construction began on the China Experimental Fast Reactor near Beijing, the reactor is close to start up. First criticality is expected before the end of 2009 and the reactor is due to be connected to the grid in June of 2010.
...
Ordering of components for CEFR began in 1997. The components were imported mainly from Russia, France, USA and UK, with imports from abroad sharing about 30% of the total systems and components budget."



"Following the start of operations for CEFR in June, the next milestone will be the commissioning of the so-called China Demonstration Fast Reactor (CDFR), planned for 2018, though initial work on the design was approved back in 2007.

The CDFR will be located in Fujian province on China’s busy and economically active eastern seaboard, opposite Taiwan.

Following CDFR, the plan is move towards a Chinese developed commercial fast reactor (CCFR), though no preliminary dates have been released for this final stage of the programme as yet – dates including 2028 and 2035 have been [mooted] but not confirmed.

Despite this, the press has reported (unconfirmed by the central government in Beijing but suggested by sources at the government-linked China Institute of Atomic Energy) that several CDFR plants should be in operation by 2030 and that China’s nuclear capacity will rise to 240-250GWe by 2050 with most of this produced by fast breeder reactors that will be introduced to replace China’s current stock of highly polluting, inefficient and costly coal fired power plants.

New record for nuclear, for China

If China does deliver the CEFR in June then it will be the only third power-generating fast reactor in operation globally."

Wind blows in energy for Shanghai


China's offshore wind turbines



"Wind blows in energy for Shanghai
English.news.cn 2010-07-07 09:00:21

BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhuanet) -- China's biggest offshore wind farm started transmitting power to the national grid yesterday morning through a submarine cable, authorities said.

The Donghai Bridge Wind Farm off Shanghai's coast, consisting of 34 three-megawatt wind-driven generators, can fuel more than 200,000 city households.

The capacity of the wind farm was only 102 megawatts, less than 1 percent of the city's current total power capacity of about 18,200 megawatts from traditional fuel electric plants.

But Shanghai Electric Power Co Ltd, the city's power supplier, said it was a good start for the application of clean energy in Shanghai.

"The operation of the Donghai Bridge Wind Farm provided good experience for the development of new energy," said Li Chonghe, vice general manager.

The company said that with the operation of the Donghai wind farm, the city could save about 86,000 tons of coal and reduce carbon dioxide by more than 234,700 tons every year.

Construction of the wind farm, located at the east side of the Donghai Bridge, was started in September 2008 and finished this February. Before operations officially started, the wind farm was on a trial run for more than a month, the company said.

The first batch of power generated by the wind farm is being transmitted to the World Expo site.

Meanwhile, construction of the Donghai wind farm's second phase has been approved for the west side of the bridge, authorities said. The total capacity of the second phase was also designed at about 100 megawatts, the company said.

The company said it plans to build another four offshore wind farms: one in the Pudong New Area, one in Chongming County and the other two in Fengxian District. The total capacity of wind power could reach 1,100 megawatts after the farms are finished.

The city's power capacity now amounts to 26,640 megawatts after including 8,440 megawatts brought in by the national grid from other provinces. Power demand is expected to peak at 26,000 megawatts during workday rush hours on extremely hot days this summer, officials said.

(Source: Shanghaidaily.com)"

China's Advanced Sciences


Nanoparticles promise to revolutionise medicine (BBC News; see second newslink below)

Are you aware of the current Chinese advances in nanotechnology, drug delivery, quantum cryptography, material science, etc.?

Here is a sample of the cool products that might result from China's R&D.

Nanotechnology: Tom Mackenzie on China's giant step into nanotech | Technology | The Guardian










New Super-bouyant Material: Life Preserver Might Float A Horse


[Note: Thank you to "snow is red" for finding the stories.]

China Building Large Radio Telescope For Space Observation


Milky Way



"China Building Large Radio Telescope For Space Observation
by Staff Writers
Shanghai (XNA) Jan 04, 2010

Construction of a 65-meter-diameter radio telescope started Tuesday in Shanghai, an official from one of funders said Wednesday. The telescope, a form of directional radio antenna used in radio astronomy, will be used in tracking and collecting data from satellites and space probes including Chinese astronomical projects like Chang'e lunar probe, YH-1 Mars exploration and other deep space explorations, said Zhan Wenlong, deputy dean of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).


File image of a large radio telescope (Goldstone)

The facility is also capable of receiving data for Jupiter and Saturn exploration, said Hong Xiaoyu, head of Shanghai Astronomical Observation, which will run the project after it is expected to be fully completed in 2015.

The 200-million-yuan (29.3 million U.S. dollars) project, funded by CAS, Shanghai Municipal Government and Chinese lunar probe project, will have a bowl-like surface composed by 1,008 panels as large as eight basketball courts in total area, said Hong.

The antenna structure of the telescope is scheduled to be finished by September 2012 and the facility is set to be used for tracking and locating missions during China's lunar probe program from 2013 to 2014.

China's Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), a type of astronomical interferometry used in radio astronomy would go up by 42 percent in terms of its sensitivity if the telescope replaces the current 25-meter one in Shanghai.

VLBI, composed of four telescopes in Shanghai, Beijing, Kunming, Urumqi and the data center in Shanghai was used for tracking and locating purposes during the first phase of China's lunar probe program."

Spectacular sunset over Chukchi Sea


Photo taken at 21:46 on July 21, 2010 (local time) shows the sunset view taken from China's icebreaker "Xue Long" or "Snow Dragon". The Snow Dragon sailed to Chukchi Sea on Wednesday during polar day period. Chukchi Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. (Xinhua/Zhang Jiansong)



"Wednesday, October 14th 2009 - 06:15 UTC
China begins 26th Antarctica season with a team of 251 scientists

Chinese scientists have set off from Shanghai for their 26th research mission to the Antarctic. The “Snow Dragon”, China's main research ship in the polar region, has gone through a series of maintenance and technical readjustments, according to Global Times.


China’s impressive icebreaker Xue Long or “Snow Dragon”

The new Antarctic season will last six months and cover a distance of more than 30,000 miles, the longest mission to date.

One of the main objectives of this season is collecting remains of meteorites and astronomic observation. The “Xue Long” carries a record 252 scientists and technicians including for the first time several from Taiwan. Russian and Australian scientists have also been invited.

A team of scientists will remain at the Zhongshan base in the bay of Prydz from where it will cover 400 kilometres to the Grove mountain range to collect as many meteorites as possible. China has the world’s third largest collection of meteorites.

Another team will land a the Kunlun base which is situated 7.3 kilometres southwest from the Argus summit, the highest point in Antarctica with 4,093 metres above sea level. The purpose is to install astronomic surveying equipment.

Two other teams will explore inland Antarctica.

China’s first Antarctic base, Changcheng (Great Wall) was established in 1985 south of King George island, and the second Zhongshan in 1989 south of the Prydz bay, in the Mirror peninsula east of the Larsemann hills.

“Kunlun” is the first Chinese base in continental Antarctica.

In the last 25 years China has completed 4,000 trips to the Southern Pole, according to the Chinese Institute of Polar Research.

“Xue Long” is expected back in Shanghai in late April 2010.

MV Xue Long, built originally as a polar cargo ship by Kherson Shipyard, Ukraine, on March 25, 1993, became the only research ice-breaker in China after elementary modification in 1994, for the Arctic and Antarctic regions. It is the re-supply vessel and the scientific research platform of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic research expeditions. The vessel is 167 meters long and 22.6 meters beam, with the full-loaded draft of 9 meters, the full-loaded displacement of 21,250 tons, and the cruising radius of 12,000 nautical miles.

It is an A2-class ice-breaker with capability of breaking ice 1.2m (including 0.2m thick snow) at a sailing speed of 2 knots and can sail with the maximum speed of 17.9 knots, and also sail even during the weather of gale with more than 12 B scale.

The vessel has a data processing centre and seven laboratories with total area of 200 square meters and basic operating equipment on board of this vessel, including a low temperature sample storehouse, a low temperature cultivation room, a clean laboratory, a marine biological laboratory, a marine chemical laboratory, a geological laboratory, and a CTD winch, a biological winch, a geological laboratory, and a hallow-section device of EK-500 model.

Besides, 3 operating boats and a helicopter are equipped for the transportation and research purposes in the Arctic and Antarctic regions."




China's icebreaker "Xue Long" or "Snow Dragon" sails among floe ice in the Chukchi Sea, July 22, 2010. The Snow Dragon encountered floe ice in the Chukchi Sea on Thursday. (Xinhua/Zhang Jiansong)


Chinese expedition team members get preparation for a helicopter on the deck of China's icebreaker "Xue Long" or "Snow Dragon", July 22, 2010. The Snow Dragon sailed to sea-ice field in the Chukchi Sea and a helicopter is sent to check floe ice condition. (Xinhua/Zhang Jiansong)

Re: China's Advanced Sciences

Martian said:

[qimg]http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/3724/nanoparticles45341579go.jpg[/qimg]
Nanoparticles promise to revolutionise medicine (BBC News; see second newslink below)

Are you aware of the current Chinese advances in nanotechnology, drug delivery, quantum cryptography, material science, etc.?

Here is a sample of the cool products that might result from China's R&D.

Nanotechnology: Tom Mackenzie on China's giant step into nanotech | Technology | The Guardian

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New Super-bouyant Material: Life Preserver Might Float A Horse

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There is a nasty problem with nanotechnology: toxicity. Many of the nanoparticles, i.e. C60 assemblies, can cross the cell membranes spontaneously and interfere normal cell events. The term "nanoparticle" has become a sort of evil word that we try to avoid...

Beautiful pictures of China's LAMOST telescope. It's better than Sloan.


LAMOST Progress : All the MB (spherical primary) segments are in place on June 19, 2008


China's LAMOST telescope in Xinglong, China



"Published in Nature 466, 279 (7 July 2010) | 10.1038/nj7303-279a

Virginia Gewin

Heidi Newberg, a physicist and astronomer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, has won a National Science Foundation grant to create the first partnership between a US team and a Chinese-led astronomy project.

Were you always planning to become an astronomer?

No. I went to graduate school in the physics department at the University of California, Berkeley, but I didn't know what I wanted to study. After my first year, I got a job with the Berkeley Automated Supernova Search, analysing images. I had no background in astronomy and didn't even know what supernovae were, but it sounded interesting because it was unexplored and would make use of my analytical thinking skills. Later, I began working on the distant-supernovae search, which ultimately became Berkeley's Supernova Cosmology Project. The distant-supernovae search did not achieve success until after I had left and started my postdoc at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, but later versions of the search benefited from the wrong turns we made starting out. Eventually the data were used in the discovery that the Universe is accelerating. Those findings led to the idea of 'dark energy'. My career has been shaped by a theme — although projects can seem bleak at the start, continuing to work on them can lead to an important result.

How were supernovae found?

First we had to work out what was going wrong. We couldn't have done it without constant funding for the supernova group from the US Department of Energy at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory — there has to be a way to keep going long enough to get things to work. You need to learn from your mistakes. One thing we learned is that to find a supernova, you can't record images of the sky once, and come back the next year and expect things to be the same. Too many things in the sky change to be able to tell which objects are supernovae and which aren't. We learned to capture an image of the sky before and after a full Moon to get the best spectra for finding supernovae.

Describe how an early achievement helped to chart your career course.

As a graduate student, I had the task of redesigning a filter wheel that was part of an instrument for the Anglo-Australian Telescope, one of the first Southern Hemisphere telescopes to offer high-resolution and computer-controlled spectrographs. I hadn't worked on hardware. I didn't know anything about optics or filter wheels, but I talked to the engineers and got answers. It came together, but the challenges showed me that with projects that push the envelope of what is known and possible, you are going to have to learn new things.

How did you forge the partnership with China?

It came together from both sides. I had been analysing data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey in Sunspot, New Mexico, but data collection ended in 2008. So I was looking for a new project. I was interested in working on the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) in Xinglong, China, because I wanted to continue with a galactic evolution project that I was exploring using Sloan data. But I needed data at a bigger scale, taking measurements on millions of stars. Using LAMOST I will have that, because it can take 4,000 spectra at once. I was also approached by the Chinese delegates as they talked to people involved in building Sloan, to learn how to make LAMOST successful. They contacted me because they wanted people to help them build the software.

What are the challenges in being a member of the first US team to join a Chinese-led astronomy project?

The Chinese structure for science is not similar to US or European structures. In China, individuals rather than teams are in charge. In US and European collaborations, committees are formed with representatives who have voting rights. It is like a democracy. With such different structures, it has been a challenge to define everyone's objectives, responsibilities and rights. The US National Science Foundation expects us to spell out the details in a proposal which might be funded up to a year later, whereas the Chinese organizations want to start working together and see how the relationship evolves, so there is a mismatch.

So have your goals changed?

No. No matter what the top layers look like, the scientists' expectations are similar. The challenge is getting the big organizations to recognize each other's systems rather than getting individuals to work together. I'll travel to China two to four times a year to make this programme a success.

What is your motto?

For the longest time, I told myself, “I can do anything”. When I turned 40, I realized that there are some things I simply can't do. Yet my motto got me pretty far before I figured that out."

Scientists Study Diamond Nitrogen Vacancy Materials for Quantum Computing Application



"Scientists Study Diamond Nitrogen Vacancy Materials for Quantum Computing Applications
2010-07-01

Since Richard Feynman's first envisioned the quantum computer in 1982, there have been many studies of potential candidates -- computers that use quantum bits, or qubits, capable of holding an more than one value at a time and computing at speeds far beyond existing silicon-based machines for certain problems. Most of these candidate systems, such as atoms and semiconducting quantum dots, work for quantum computing, but only at very low temperatures.

Now a team of researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale at the University of Science and Technology of China has made a step toward a warmer solution.

As reported in the journal Applied Physics Letters, the team is exploring the capabilities of diamond nitrogen vacancy (NV) materials. In this material, a "molecule" at the heart of an artificially created diamond film consists of a nitrogen atom (present as in impurity amid all those carbon atoms) and a nearby vacancy, a place in the crystal containing no atom at all. These diamond structures offer the possibility of carrying out data storage and quantum computing at room temperature.

One of the challenges of this technology is the difficulty of coupling two of the NV centers in separate nanocrystals of diamond. To make a quantum computer, many diamond-NV centers need to be coupled (made quantum coherent with each other), encoding the information in each, and operations based on their interactions (or couplings) must be undertaken. Mang Feng of the Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and his collaborators present an idea that could lead to a quantum mechanical coupling of these NV centers, called entanglement. This proof of principle is now ready to be extended to multiple operations, which is by no means a simple accumulation of the operations.

"Our research is another step in realizing the potential of the long-envisioned quantum computers with techniques available currently or in the near-future," states Dr. Feng, "Continued advances could stimulate further exploration in condensed matter physics, quantum information science and diamond making technology."


More information: The article, "One-step implementation of multi-qubit conditional phase gating with nitrogen-vacancy centers coupled to a high-Q silica microsphere cavity" by Wan-li Yang et al will appear in the journal Applied Physics Letters. See: //apl.aip.org/(Provided by American Institute of Physics)"

[Note: Thank you to "lkjhgfdsa" for finding this story.]

ARJ-21 jets to be delivered starting from 2011


China's Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century



"ARJ21 jets to be delivered starting from 2011
13:38, July 22, 2010

China's first ARJ21 regional jet is expected to be delivered in 2011, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), which develops domestically-made jumbo jets and sells the ARJ21 aircraft, reported during the Farnborough International Air Show on July 21.

ARJ21 is a new type of short-to-medium-range, turbofan-powered regional jet independently developed by China. It has 70 to 100 seats and a maximum range of 2,000 nautical miles. Designed in accordance with international airworthiness standards, the aircraft can meet requirements such as takeoff and landing in plateau or high-temperature airports.

According to COMAC, the ARJ21 regional jet had its first test flight on Nov. 28, 2008 and has entered the airworthiness certification and certificate application stage. Four ARJ21 regional jets have participated in test flights with a cumulative flight time of more than 600 hours. Confirmed overseas and domestic orders and orders of intent have amounted to 240 and the first aircraft is scheduled to be delivered in 2011.

The pre-sale price of the new ARJ21 regional jet is 27 million to 29 million U.S. dollars, giving the ARJ21 regional jet a price advantage over its peers in the international market.

COMAC also noted that China's jumbo jet project will enter the engineering development phase next year. The suppliers for the project have generally been selected after key suppliers of the airframe structure, power units and system devices, materials and standard components were fixed.

Equipment for the C919 jumbo jets will be supplied by 13 international aviation manufacturing enterprises. Meanwhile, over 30 domestic enterprises have passed the preliminary material supply reviews and more than 50 domestic enterprises have been selected as potential standard component suppliers.

COMAC added that the overall technical plan, manufacturing plan and customer service plan for the C919 jumbo jets will be compiled in 2010. The C919 jumbo jets are scheduled to conduct the first test flights in 2014 and be delivered in 2016.

By People's Daily Online"


ARJ-21 cockpit


ARJ-21 pilot controls


ARJ-21 throttle control


ARJ-21 interior cabin space

Re: China's Advanced Sciences

Martian said:

[qimg]http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/3724/nanoparticles45341579go.jpg[/qimg]
Nanoparticles promise to revolutionise medicine (BBC News; see second newslink below)

Are you aware of the current Chinese advances in nanotechnology, drug delivery, quantum cryptography, material science, etc.?

Here is a sample of the cool products that might result from China's R&D.

Nanotechnology: Tom Mackenzie on China's giant step into nanotech | Technology | The Guardian

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New Super-bouyant Material: Life Preserver Might Float A Horse

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Some great finds you've got there, Martian!