2024 China Two Sessions: Fastest Nuclear Power Expansion Can Accelerate - Bloomberg
2024 China Two Sessions: Fastest Nuclear Power Expansion Can Accelerate - Bloomberg
China Able to Accelerate World’s Fastest Nuclear Power Expansion
- Nation could add as many as 10 reactors a year: CNNC chairman
- China likely to surpass US nuclear capacity by 2030, BNEF says
China can aim to approve as many as 10 new nuclear reactors a year to accelerate its rapid expansion of capacity, according to the chairman of one of the nation’s largest developers.
Three or four new reactors will be added to the national fleet this year to take China’s capacity to about 60.8 gigawatts, according to Lu Tiezhong, chairman of China National Nuclear Corp. That roll-out could speed up further and would benefit from policy changes to include nuclear plants in systems to trade credits for green energy production or emissions reduction efforts, he said.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: nuclear
Nuclear energy provides almost 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. Advocates have called for an expanded role for nuclear as an emissions-free fuel source. But the economics of building new reactors are daunting. In addition, lingering safety concerns are an institutionalized part of the calculation of nuclear regulation, and highly radioactive nuclear waste remains a can that public officials have been inclined to kick down the road. The Energy Information Administration projects a sharp decline in nuclear power generation over the next decade, as new nuclear plants — two are planned — are more than offset by anticipated retirements of several operating reactors.