News on China's scientific and technological development.

Hendrik_2000

Lieutenant General
For the first time China made nuclear grade water heater is going to be used in French nuclear powerplant. China is now self sufficient when it come to nuclear power plant component. That show the reliability of Chinese made stainless steel contrary to some China basher opinion
Increasingly they are exported too!
Nuclear grade is one of the stringiest standard in the world
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C4--bb8XUAAycW8.jpg

EDF, the leading producer and supplier of electricity in France, has just ordered the first low pressure water heater designed and manufactured in China to be delivered to one of its nuclear reactors in France.

The delivery ceremony was held on Feb. 14 at the FEOSO Electric plant in Guangzhou, a subsidiary of Chinese group Dongfang Electric and one of China's largest nuclear equipment manufacturers. The CEO of Dongfang Electric and EDF's Delegate General in China, Fabrice Fourcade, cut the symbolic ribbon for the shipment of the equipment.

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The delivery ceremony of the low-pressure water heater for EDF's nuclear power plants in France (Photo: 电气 电气)

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Fabrice Fourcade, CEO of EDF in China, during his speech in Guangzhou (Image: 电气 电气)

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The delivery of the "qualified supplier" certificate to the Chinese group Dongfeng Electric (Photo: 电气 电气)


According to
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, the first delivery to EDF is a strong symbol of the export of nuclear equipment "Made in China" to Europe. This water heater, 13.85 meters long, is designed for 900 MWe reactors.
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indicates that it will be used for the replacement of equipment of the nuclear power plants of the CP1 program contract in France.

There are now 18 CP1 900 MWe reactors in France - Blayais 1, 2, 3, and 4 (Gironde); Dampierre 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Loiret); Gravelines B1, B2, B3, B4, C5 and C6 (North) and Tricastin 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Drôme).

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emphasizes that this is the first time that the EDF group ordered directly from a Chinese supplier for its nuclear power plants in France, and that the two parties share the same values and objectives to be pursued, namely the Safety, competitiveness and quality excellence. He then handed the "qualified supplier" certificate to the Chinese group, which could participate with EDF in other future nuclear projects in France and England.

The delivery was carried out under the contract signed on 7 June 2011. The design and manufacture of this nuclear water heater were carried out in accordance with the European Pressure Equipment Directive (PED) and the Code of Construction of Pressure Apparatus not subject to flame) from France, all audited by Bureau Veritas.


It should be noted that the Dongfang Electric Group entered the nuclear field in 1996, in collaboration with French groups Areva NP and Alston to supply nuclear equipment dedicated to the power stations in Daya Bay and Ling Ao, two export projects led by EDF.

China now has 35 nuclear reactors in operation, and 21 are currently under construction. The majority is located near the east coast of China.

Today, nuclear power represents only 2.4% of the country's electricity production, far behind the 76.9% (January 2016) in France, 29.2% in Japan and 19.5% in the States United.



Henri K.

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antiterror13

Brigadier
Tianhe-3 Exascale supercomputer is being built
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China to jump supercomputer barrier
(China Daily) 08:20, February 20, 2017
China has started to build a new-generation supercomputer that is expected to be 10 times faster than the current world champion.
This year, China is aiming for breakthroughs in high- performance processors and other key technologies to build the world's first prototype exascale supercomputer, the Tianhe-3, said Meng Xiangfei, the director of application at the National Super Computer Tianjin Center. The prototype is expected to be completed in early 2018.
"Exascale" means it will be capable of making a quintillion (1 followed by 18 zeros) calculations per second. That is at least 10 times faster than the world's current speed champ, the Sunway TaihuLight, China's first supercomputer to use domestically designed processors. That computer has a peak speed of 125 quadrillion (1 followed by 15 zeros) calculations per second, he said.
"Its computing power is on the next level, cementing China as the world leader in supercomputer hardware," Meng said. It would be available for public use and "help us tackle some of the world's toughest scientific challenges with greater speed, precision and scope", he added.
Tianhe-3 will be made entirely in China, from processors to operating system. It will be stationed in Tianjin and fully operational by 2020, earlier than the US plan for its exascale supercomputer, he said.
China also likely has another exascale supercomputer in the works. "Such machines take years to make and typically are retired in six to eight years, so you always need a backup, especially when your older models are overworked."
Tianhe-1, China's first quadrillion-level supercomputer developed in 2009, is now working at full capacity, undertaking more than 1,400 assignments each day, solving problems "from stars to cells".
The exascale supercomputer will be able to analyze smog distribution on a national level, while current models can only handle a district. Tianhe-3 also could simulate earthquakes and epidemic outbreaks in more detail, allowing swifter and more effective government responses, Meng said.
The new machine also will be able to analyze gene sequence and protein structures in unprecedented scale and speed. That may lead to new discoveries and more potent medicine, he said.
Liu Guangming, director of the National Super Computer Tianjin Center, said Tianhe-3 will generate over 10 billion yuan ($1.49 billion) in economic benefits per year, according to the The Paper, a Shanghai news organization.
 

Hendrik_2000

Lieutenant General
Crash test of high speed train at 41km/hr exceed the Europa standard of 36km/hr Done. It is surprising nobody has done this crash test before
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The CRRC technical center Qingdao Sifang, a subsidiary of the Chinese railway manufacturer CRRC, has just completed a crash test between two of their TGVs and one against a wall. The tests were held in a laboratory of Central South University, which has a research center for the Chinese Ministry of Railways.

The objective of these two crash tests is to validate the design of the shock absorber located at the front of the train in a collision scenario where the TGV is braking after the driver has perceived the danger ahead train.

2017-03-12-La-Chine-r%C3%A9alise-un-crash-test-entre-deux-TGV-05.jpg

Crash test between two Chinese TGV trains at a speed of 41.6 km / h.

2017-03-12-La-Chine-r%C3%A9alise-un-crash-test-entre-deux-TGV-06.jpg

Crash test against a concrete wall at a speed of 38 km / h.

But contrary to what many Chinese media claim on this news, these crash tests were not carried out under the condition of "extreme speed". According to a CCTV-4 documentary aired on Monday, February 13th, where these trials were attended by a senior CRRC designer Qingdai Sifang, the crash test between two Chinese TGV trains was done at a speed of 41, 6 km / h, and when another trainset hit a concrete wall occurred at 38 km / h.

These speeds, which appear to be low for a TGV, which generally run between 200 and 350 km / h on the lines, still
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on the fundamental parameters of the trans-European rail system speed.

For example, in the limiting mechanical characteristics of the rolling stock of this European Recommendation, it can be stated that:

"All rolling stock must protect passengers and personnel in the event of a collision. This protection is ensured by methods of construction which must absorb the energy of the collision, limit the deformation of the crates and prevent overlaps. "

"Three collision scenarios are defined: 1) symmetric collision at a relative speed of 36 km / h of identical high speed trains; "

"Characteristics to be respected - Scenario 1: the driver's cab shall not deform. "

ZHAO Shi Zhong, chief designer of CRRC Qingdai Sifang, said in the report that the two crash tests were conducted at a speed slightly higher than 36 km / h to verify the margin of safety of the structure, and specifies that the development Of the new shock absorber devices is still in the experimental stage.


It should be noted that according to the shape of the three "crash" oars, this is one of the last three models that CRRC has developed.

The two prototypes, registered CRH-0207 and CRH-0208 of this model nicknamed "Blue Dolphin", have undergone a long series of in-line tests of 600 000 km each. The "Dauphin" then received type certification and was officially renamed CR400BF .

It is a new TGV train designed for a commercial speed of 350 km / h, but it has already reached 420 km / h on the Zhengzhou and Xuzhou connecting lines. It is scheduled to enter service in 2017.

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Two of the three new TGV trains developed by CRRC, CR400AF left and CR400BF right.

Since the launch of China's first high-speed rail line in 2003, linking the city of Qinhuangdao and Shenyang, the development of the TGV network is literally a "Great Leap Forward".

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to
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(International Union of Railways) dated 1 February 2017, China now has a 23,914-km TGV network, which accounts for 64% of the world's TGV networks. More than 2/3 of the high-speed lines currently under construction in the world are also located in China, or about 10,730 km.

Since our last article " Objective
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45,000km" published in September last year, where the Chinese TGV network had just crossed the symbolic mark of 20,000 km, it is almost 1,800 km of new lines to Which were inaugurated in six months. The country plans to reach its target of 30,000 km by 2020 and 45,000 km by 2030.

In terms of traffic, if the Chinese network carried fewer passengers (in passenger-km as in civil aviation) than Japan and France in 2010 - with 46.3 billion passenger-km traveled on the routes -
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, and has grown exponentially since.

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The evolution of TGV traffic by country between 2010 and 2014 (Source: UIC, Image: East Pendulum)

This (almost) unique case of development, which was based initially on the transfer of foreign technologies before monopolizing the Chinese domestic market with the "Made in China" models in less than 20 years, is made possible by the two Considerations.

First, the Chinese government considers the TGV line network as the country's "economic blood vessels" at an early stage, which "breaks the walls" and facilitates the exchange of goods and raw materials between the most remote regions And those that are growing rapidly in coastal areas. It therefore plays an important catalytic role for China's economic development. This political-economic priority then results in strong political support and mixed public-private funding that is both substantial and constant.

The TGV, and in general railway technologies, has also recently been seen as a showcase for export, which would convey another image of Chinese products on the international market. It is also and above all used as a tool that contributes to the implementation of the geo-politico-economic strategy "One Belt One Road".

After winning contracts in Indonesia and Russia, and also an opening in Thailand, Chinese TGV trains begin to land in Europe, with a first contract won in the Czech Republic. Germany, which is the westernmost destination of the One Belt One Road strategy, is also expected to import some Chinese equipment for its own TGV.

The continuation of this history of Chinese TGV is therefore interesting to follow, not only for the technological advances that this represents, but also to observe how the Chinese intend to take advantage of this, whether inside or outside the country.

Henri K.

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I'm sorry to tell you this sentence:
...

After winning contracts in Indonesia and Russia, and also an opening in Thailand, Chinese TGV trains begin to land in Europe, with a first contract won in the Czech Republic. ...
contains an incorrect info: the Chinese didn't meet certain criteria of the Czech tender for high speed trains PLUS said tender has been recently canceled here (the source is a major Czech news server:
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and if you decided to click on this link, you could see the Chinese promo vid; I actually skimmed through this article earlier this week)
 

Equation

Lieutenant General
5 reasons why China will rule tech, 2017 edition
China’s plans to lead in science and innovation
keyboard_chinese_flag-100525260-primary.idge.jpg


China’s push to take over global technology leadership is relentless. It wants to lead in computing, semiconductors, research and development, and clean energy. It is accelerating science investment as the U.S. retreats.

China may be planning a moon base. Surprised? Don’t be. It will soon have a manned space station. It is investing heavily in quantum technologies and it wants to be first to build an exascale supercomputer.

In 2010, Computerworld looked at “
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.” Here's an update, and the case for China has grown stronger.

1. China’s big science ambitions include a moon base
In the 1950s, the U.S. considered establishing a 12-man
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on the moon by 1965. The idea was too ambitious for the time and was dropped. Meanwhile, China has set its sights on a permanent
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.


A Chinese lunar base is a long way off. China has
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for landing on the moon. But what these efforts illustrate is how China thinks big and long term. China has established a goal of becoming a global scientific power
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, according to a report prepared for the Economic and Security Review Commission in 2011.

President Donald Trump’s administration includes more funds for space exploration, but would do so only by cutting other science efforts at NASA. The space agency’s overall
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would be cut by about 1%.

“The U.S. remains at the forefront of quantum information science, but its lead has slipped considerably as other nations, China in particular, have allocated extensive funding to basic and applied research,” said John Costello, a senior analyst at Flashpoint, a cybersecurity firm, in testimony presented at a U.S.-China hearing on Thursday.

“Consequently, Chinese advances in quantum information science have the potential to surpass the United States,” Costello said.

2. China wants to win in high-performance computing
U.S. scientists -- including those at the National Security Agency -- believe China will soon lead the world in supercomputing.

“National security requires the best computing available, and loss of leadership in high performance computing (HPC) will
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our national security,” wrote NSA and Energy Department scientists in a recent report.

China sees
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. It recently accelerated development of exascale systems and expects to produce a prototype as earlier as the end of this year, ahead of the U.S.

China has the world’s fastest supercomputer at about 125 petaflops
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. A petaflop system can perform one quadrillion arithmetic operations per second. An exascale system is 1,000 petaflops, and China is on track to produce a system well before the U.S.

Trump’s proposed 2018 budget may cut funding for U.S. supercomputer development.

3. China is attacking U.S. semiconductor dominance
For all its investment and advances, China is at least one and a half generations behind state-of-the-art semiconductors, according to a
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released in January by President Barack Obama, just days before Trump took office. It was written with industry cooperation.

The report provides insights into criticisms that Trump leveled at China over trade practices. In its push to be first, China isn’t playing fair, the report states.

To help boost its industry, the report claimed that the Chinese government subsidizes semiconductor production, which can lower product cost and threaten direct competitors. It also “places conditions on access to its market” to drive domestic production and “technology transfer” -- requiring foreign firms -- if they want access to China’s market -- to share their technology. Theft is another means of acquiring technology, the report says.

“In 2014, the Chinese Government announced that it would spend $150 billion to expand the share of Chinese-made integrated circuits in its market from 9 percent to 70 percent by 2025,” said former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker,
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last November. “To put that figure into perspective, $150 billion is roughly half of all worldwide semiconductor sales last year,” she said.

The Trump administration supports a hardline on China and its semiconductors activities. But Trump may differ from Obama in one key area.

Part of the Obama administration counterattack to the China semiconductor advances was to recommend a series of “moonshots” -- projects to accelerate U.S. innovation.

One moonshot called for advances in “modeling and simulation” development -- a product of supercomputing development. But if Trump cuts supercomputing investment, it may help China advance its semiconductor agenda.

4. China plans to exceed the U.S. in R&D
China’s investment in R&D is rising so rapidly that the country is expected to surpass the U.S. in overall spending by 2020. This doesn’t necessarily mean that China is doing a better job at innovation. Other measures, such as patents registered in multiple countries, continue to point to the U.S. as the innovation leader.

Nonetheless, China’s R&D investment growth was called “
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” last year by the National Science Foundation. “Between 2003 and 2013, China ramped up its R&D investments at an average of 19.5 percent annually, greatly exceeding that of the U.S.” the NSF reported.

China’s innovation ambitions include leading the world on clean energy. It invested nearly $103 billion in renewables in 2015, up 17% over 2014. The “U.S. is in second place, but well behind, at $44 billion,” according to a recent
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by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. The Trump budget
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.

5. China’s leadership is focused on science
During the campaign, Trump said he supported investment in science, but his proposed 2018 budget cuts science spending.

The
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they “threaten our nation’s ability to advance cures for disease, maintain our technological leadership, ensure a more prosperous energy future, and train the next generation of scientists and innovators to address the complex challenges we face today and in the future,” said Rush Holt, the CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Silicon Valley leaders warned before Trump took office that he would be a "
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."

Trump may be hoping that deregulation, tax cuts and other private sector incentives will spur innovation. But the government has always played a role in basic science research and big science projects, such as exascale computers, that are too expensive for the private sector.

China’s investment in science is not a given and economic forces could derail its plans. But for now, this country
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as critical to long-term prosperity.

“Innovation is the primary force guiding development,”
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, the president of the People’s Republic of China, in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “We need to relentlessly pursue innovation,” Xi said.

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Equation

Lieutenant General
How much longer can the US holds that title when it depends on the majority (almost ALL) of it R&D scientist from over seas? With Trump at the WH and all this anti foreign rhetoric going on I doubt many would be even be loyal enough to stay. You can definitely count out the natural born kids to pick up the slack due to the current education system continuing to become more of a baby sitter than education that's been going on for decades.
 

manqiangrexue

Brigadier
How much longer can the US holds that title when it depends on the majority (almost ALL) of it R&D scientist from over seas? With Trump at the WH and all this anti foreign rhetoric going on I doubt many would be even be loyal enough to stay. You can definitely count out the natural born kids to pick up the slack due to the current education system continuing to become more of a baby sitter than education that's been going on for decades.

I don't agree with Blackstone's century-long prediction at all but Trump's power is ephemeral; 4-8 years, and he's out so worst he can do is be a big nasty speed-bump for American science but not an everlasting drag chute. Secondly, the foreign scientists doing work in the US never were here for loyalty; most are here for greed and material gain so as long as they still have that, they'll probably eat the bitter soup and do nothing about it. Then there are those really highly-achieved ones who can be stars anywhere. When they start to realize that personal wealth is a boring pursuit, they want something bigger, then they pack up and go serve their own nations; they are too big to be affected by Trump's insults nor Hillary's flattery.
 
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