China's nuclear program skirts Western machine tool sanctions - Nikkei Asia
China's nuclear program skirts Western machine tool sanctions - Nikkei Asia
TOKYO -- Machine tools are used to shape parts made of metal or other materials by cutting, shearing, grinding and other processes. The most sophisticated five-axis machine tools seamlessly shape complex shapes. From turbine blades in generators to aircraft impellers and automobile engine parts, the most advanced machine tools are indispensable to every industry, and are referred to as "mother machines."
Manufacturers around the globe look to Japan and Germany as the two countries on the cutting edge of five-axis machining. One of these advanced machine tools at the very heart of modern manufacturing has, however, been found somewhere it should not be -- inside China's nuclear development program.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”