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Q: Do you think that China should have more nuclear plants ?
Nuclear is comparatively amongst the cheapest source of energy and is also relatively clean.
If you were to compare it to coal for example.
Do you think that China should go the nuclear way to satisfy their energy needs for the next decades ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_nuclear_disasters_and_radioactive_...
No. The idea behind nuke plants was that they would produce electricity too cheap to monitor. Canadas nuke plants cost so much to build that part of our hydro bill is debt reduction, cause they went so far in the hole building them. Nuclear power is not cost effective. The waste can't be disposed of and only stored on site, but storage isn't safe or long term viable. Many countries gave up on them. And look what happens when you have an accident? Chernboyl, Three Mile Island, Japan.etc. And with Chinese quality control?
China is in the process of opening 1 nuclear power plant per month for the next 5 years. I don't think they will need more than that.
The main problem is that coal is cheap and tons of factories still use it for power.
Nuclear power is dangerous beyond belief. Just look at the tsunami and Tokyo and all that mess plus Chernobyl and that mess. It is playing with something that can permanently destroy the environment and humanity itself. It's not needed, energy efficient or not.
No they shouldn't not after what happened in Japan and RUssia.
If they can not even build bridges that stays up when a truck goes over it, why would anyone trust them with building nuclear power plants. For China it is a disaster waiting to happen.
they have general electric building the nuclear plants because their quality is so bad here at building.
If they do, DO NOT BUILD IT IN MY BACKYARD!
Unfortunately, there is one under construction very near from my hometown........ It's a beautiful "small" city...... lives several million inhabitants within a 90 km circle around the nuclear plant.......
China has absolutely no choice, they must build nuclear power stations if they are to satisfy their growing demand for energy. What is more the more developed nations should imho support this, if China doesn't build nuclear power stations then they will consume more and more of the worlds fossil fuels and probably increase the pollution (and climate change but that's another story), therefore indirectly it is in the worlds best interest that China goes nuclear.
As to the safety issue, perhaps one way of circumventing this possible problem would be for developed nations to offer to build these stations at cost? That way China uses less fossil fuels, causes less pollution and the plants it is building won't be a danger. (Assuming of course that the companies the developed governments use to build them don't become as corrupt as the Chinese ones). Perhaps an even better insurance would be for the developed nations to build AND man them, (of course I seriously doubt China would allow that.
It is interesting, I was reading about this just a few weeks ago. China has apparently been "developing independently" the use of Thorium in nuclear plants. The same technology that India has been pursuing for considerable time. Thorium apparently is nuclear power without the deadly radiation.
China now says it has caught up with and surpassed India's technology (though it is unclear how they know exactly what India's technology is, or why they would care if they were developing it independently).
If this is the case, I would say that I hope China can pursue this technology. However, seeing the problems they have caused for themselves and the international community with other technology they have claimed to "develop independently," I have grave concerns about this technology as well.
It would be good if just for once they could cooperate with the international regulatory bodies, but they steadfastly refuse to do this, with this technology, or with anything they do.
Hugh.G.Rection:
As I understand it they wanted to cooperate with the international community vis-a-vis the International Space Station (ISS) but the USA blocked them from participating, thereby forcing them to go their own way.
Traveler:
There are obvious risks with allowing China into an existing ventures such as the space station, the most obvious being China's safety. As in all matters, it would not take long before China demanded that other nations acknowledge it's superiority, and allow the introduction of "superior Chinese technology." China would not be happy unless it was in charge of the station. They would lose face if they weren't.
My post was more about the technology China has stolen and not really understood. They have plowed ahead with chemical production and manufacturing, refusing proper access to U.N. weapons inspectors and environmental experts, and we have all seen the results there. The damage they could do with nuclear power could make this pale into insignificance.
Hulk:
Incorrect graphic. I've seen more nuke plants in China than listed here...
ohChina:
yeah. you're right. Sorry I think this is outdated. Some planned plants are already under construction.
What Traveler writes is indeed interesting. China is developing the nuclear technology, also look up Pebble Bed Reactors, which is not a Chinese invention, but one of the paths being worked on.
Using thorium as fuel does not eliminate radiation, it is less than the normal uranium/plutonium
I just hope they use Chinese concrete of the highest standard to build the reactor enclosures.
http://www.wired.com/design/2013/03/poor-quality-chinese-concrete-could-...
