China plans pilot nuclear reactor for heating in northeast

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China plans to build a pilot small-scale nuclear reactor that could replace coal or gas to heat towns and cities in its colder northern regions, an official with the state-owned developer in charge of the project said on Monday.

The small heating reactor is planned for the city of Jiamusi in northeastern Heilongjiang province, one of two proposed units with a combined capacity of 400 megawatts, Wang Xujia, a senior engineer with the State Power Investment Corp., said on the sidelines of an industry conference.