COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE
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Mr Stones then went on to talk about some of the personalities involved.
He felt that the foremost important people in China in the project were Mr Jin, Head of the Nuclear Department at the Second Ministry of Machine Building, Mr Dang, Head of Nuclear Physics Department, Madam Shi and Cheng Gang. He added that Lu Ying was the administrative secretary to all the Deputy Governors in the Guangdong Provincial authority and as such, while obviously well informed, did not have executive power.
Mr Stones noted that the feasibility report had been totally accepted in Guangdong and, he believed, also approved in Peking. The equipment chapter recommended three potential PWR suppliers, Framatome, Westinghouse and KWU,
though none of these were without drawbacks; the Chinese were having problems with a French supplied fertiliser plant which wasn't working particularly well, KWU would only offer a turnkey contract which would be unacceptable since technology transfer was an important part of the project and Westinghouse was doubtful because of the questionable direction of US nuclear policy. Of the five potential turbine suppliers, CEC was probably the least capable in Mr Stones view, having never manufactured a complete 900 MW high-speed turbine before. Another factor militating against GEC was the CECB's decision to have 2 x 660 MW rather than a single 1300 MW unit for its own PWR programme. Nevertheless, everybody had been working hard to try and push the interests of GEC and Mr Stones was of the opinion tha the request from
Chen Gang for an invitation to visit the UK was most significant. It was also necessary to take into account the known preference of CLP for GEC equipment, the importance of the UK connection and the probable wish of the Chinese to give some sort of "face" to CLP for all the work they had put in on the feasibility report. Consequently, Mr Stones was reasonably optimistic
GEC's ultimate success. He added that if the French were so sure of the Chinese commitment to them then Framatone would not be courting GEC, CLP and
GPC so assiduously.
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The discussion then turned to future activities, Mr Stones commented on reports
that Peking was proposing more technical studies. US consultants such as Bechtel, Gibbs and Hill, and Quandrex were all noting the work needed to prepare a call for competitive bids, something CLP and GPC also recognised as a very necessary step after the feasibility study. A paper Mr Stones had prepared for the Management Committee, suggested that a US firm prepare a