Official: China Plans 40 Nuke Power Plants

[Rose Siding]

SHANGHAI, China -- China plans to build 40 nuclear power plants over the next 15 years, making them the main power source for its booming east coast, a government official said in remarks reported Thursday.

China is expected to be the world's biggest developer of nuclear power stations in coming decades as the government tries to meet soaring demands for electricity while reducing pollution from coal-fired power plants.

Zhang Fubao, an official of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, made the prediction Wednesday at a symposium on the nuclear power market and technology, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

With no plants planned in the United States and few in other Western countries, suppliers of equipment are looking to China to drive sales in their industry.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-china-nuclear-power,0,5085882.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[ECH1969]

1. That is going to send oil down alot tomorrow

[Placebo]

2. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

:shrug:

[inflection]

3. china thinks we are playing

[rayofreason]

5. good thing

This is a good thing. The more China uses nukes for electricity, the less CO2 they will release by burning coal and oil.

We should use more nukes too, along with increased conservation, solar, wind power, etc..

BTW, increased hydroelectric capacity produces increased methane (an much more effective greenhouse gas) as new areas are flooded and the vegetation under the water produces methane as it rots, and wind farms kill huge amounts of bats and birds. No solution comes without a trade-off. The question is, what is the right balance? Nukes, by comparison, come off fairly green.

[Nostradammit]

7. You certainly are the tireless supporter of nuclear energy

Aren't you, rayofreason?

Do you have a link where I can find out about the piles of bats and birds lying about?

[rayofreason]

10. bats and wind power

Here are a few links thta discuss the issue -

http://www.batcon.org/newsletter/enews-0804/article1.html

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4461099

http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/bats_wind_or_death.htm

http://www.saveblackwater.org/washington_post_bat_deaths.htm

By no means is the impact on bats and birds a showstopper, but it is a factor to be considered.

And yes, it is easy to be tireless when you have a small breeder reactor to keep you going!

[aneerkoinos]

8. Good thing

This will not affect oil consumption in any way, to answer the previous poster, since oil is not burned to generate electricity. Coal is, and between coal and nuclear fission there is no question which is less harmfull. The Climate Change is a major factor, but not the only one.

[Trillo]

4. Will these be the new pebble bed design? nt

[priller]

6. Yes, I think so.

I generally have dim view of nuclear power, but I have to admit I was intrigued by the built-in safety of the design. You still have to deal with waste, however, and until someone comes up with a good solution for that...

[Jack_DeLeon]

9. Not surprising....

the Chinese arent stupid they understand oil supplies worldwide are dimishing at first because of America's vast consumption, and now because of world wide consumption.