China poised to dump fossil fuels for clean nuclear power
- Source: Global Times
- [23:19 August 24 2010]
- Comments
By David Friesen
There is still fear and scepticism surrounding any use of the word "nuclear." The awesome power of nuclear weapons still shadows the world.
However, while nuclear weapons may be our destroyer, conversely nuclear power may be our saviour.
With the world desperate for new sources of energy, perhaps it is time to look at nuclear power once more as a viable worldwide energy source.
It seems that China is in agreement, as they have succeeded in testing the country's first experimental fourth generation nuclear reaction.
Not only is China one of just eight countries in the world to own and test this technology, but it is the only country to really push forward and begin planning to roll out the technology in the coming years.
While South Korea still leads the way with the first contract to deliver advanced reactors to the United Arab Emirates, China is rapidly overtaking the Western world in nuclear power development.
The UK and Europe have all but abandoned nuclear power in favor of wind turbines, given the previous difficulties and costs associated with early-generation nuclear plants.
The China Experimental Fast Reactor (CEFR), on the other hand, is far more efficient, and sees China skip straight past third-generation nuclear plants, since their existing 11 nuclear plans use second-generation technology - although third-generation plants are to open soon.
This fourth-generation technology has a utility rate around 60 times greater than that of a third-generation reactor, and its recycling ability means that much more of the waste can be reused within the generation process.
Make no mistake: This is a monumental leap forward for China that has left the likes of the UK and the US with a big decision to make. They may continue with their own nuclear programs, but the costs are likely to be huge.
Instead, they could swallow their pride and allow China to pour in the money before buying reactors from them in the future. With total investment in the CEFR program reaching 2.5 billion yuan ($369 million), it is unlikely that other countries can compete.
This paves the way for China to construct up to 100 new nuclear reactors over the next 20 or 30 years, with the country already constructing the largest machine sets to harness nuclear power in the world.
On the face of it then, China is set to take a larger share of the nuclear energy market, thereby potentially shifting its reliance on foreign fuel imports as well as generating revenues from selling its technologies to other countries.
It is unlikely that China will be selling its fourth-generation technology any time soon though. Tests will certainly need to run for years to come, considering that China actually has very little experience in creating nuclear technology from scratch.
Their previously most advanced reactors such as the CPR-1000 reactor are in fact derived from a 1980s French design, with the copyright still being owned by Areva.
This prevents China from selling such reactors, although it appears there are no such problems for their new fourth-generation plants.
Regardless of profitability, the main draw of such fourth-generation plants is the fact that they are far safer than previous nuclear reactors.
While the spectre of Chernobyl still haunts many, the odds of such problems occurring with this advanced technology are astronomical.
It is this fear and the costs of setting up nuclear plants that have deterred many Western countries from acting and progressing over the last 20 years. China, however, doesn't share this fear, and that is why it has been able to forge ahead.
The abandonment of nuclear power progression by the Western world has been a huge mistake, particularly with issues such as climate change and dwindling fossil fuel reserves becoming ever-more pressing.
The benefits certainly won't be seen for perhaps 10 or even 20 years given that the first fourth-generation plant won't come fully online until 2020 at the earliest, but this is a bold and positive move by China.
Despite the criticism China often receives for its energy consumption and pollution problems, it is now one of the few countries to really begin planning for the future and the increased energy consumption that its advancement will require. In its use of nuclear power, it sets a model that others should follow.
The author is a writer from London who has lived in Beijing for five years. davidfriesenfreelance@gmail.com
