Is China the Future of Nuclear Energy? feat. Francois Morin
Decouple20 Mars 2021

Is China the Future of Nuclear Energy? feat. Francois Morin

China is currently 3rd in the world in Nuclear Energy capacity with ambitious plans to have the most reactors in the world by 2030. The Tsinghua climate plan calls for a 7-fold increase by 2050. Is China on the verge of a historic moment like the French Messmer plan, which saw France accidentally decarbonize by nuclearizing its grid in 15 years while electrifying a significant amount of heating and rail transport? The answer is a very complex "No."

At great expense in a time of post-civil war, crushing agrarian poverty and "great leap forward" economic mismanagement, China managed to join the nuclear weapons club in 1964. It was, however, very late to develop power reactors, with its first coming online only in 1991. Since then, China has imported many different turnkey projects from Europe, the USA, Canada, Russia while also developing its own indigenous designs culminating in the Hualong 1.

For a variety of pragmatic reasons, including the transport and air pollution externalities of coal and the ability to make nuclear cheap and profitable by very low-interest financing, nuclear is on the rise in China. However, coal use is still rising, as is energy demand, with data centre and 5G infrastructure expected to use as much energy as is currently produced by the entire Chinese nuclear fleet.

I am joined by Francois Morin, the China Director of the World Nuclear Association, to discuss the fascinating past, present, and future of nuclear energy in China.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(331)

The Canada-US Trade War: A Bridge Too Far? w/ Jesse Huebsch

The Canada-US Trade War: A Bridge Too Far? w/ Jesse Huebsch

The Canada-US trade war is escalating, threatening to unravel decades of economic integration between two of the world's closest allies. Chris Keefer is joined by returning guest Jesse Hoops to examin...

25 Sep 1h 14min

Megaprojects: Some Assembly Required w/ Ian MacGregor

Megaprojects: Some Assembly Required w/ Ian MacGregor

Canada is once again attempting to build nuclear megaprojects after a long pause, making the experience of people who have actually delivered recent large industrial projects increasingly valuable. Ia...

3 Sep 54min

The State of Fusion Energy w/ Gerrit Bruhaug

The State of Fusion Energy w/ Gerrit Bruhaug

Fusion has spent nearly a century as the energy source of the future. In this episode, I’m joined by fusion scientist Gerrit Bruhaug to ask what has actually been achieved, what remains unsolved, and ...

13 Aug 1h 24min

Sunk Costs & Diminishing Returns of Iran's Nuclear Program w/ Farzan Sabet

Sunk Costs & Diminishing Returns of Iran's Nuclear Program w/ Farzan Sabet

Iran’s nuclear program is now more than seven decades old, stretching from the Shah’s ambitious Atoms for Peace-era plans to the Islamic Republic’s pursuit of enrichment, missile capability and nuclea...

6 Aug 1h 25min

Biomass Masterclass w/ Mark Nelson

Biomass Masterclass w/ Mark Nelson

For almost the whole of human history, wood was the main act. It was the fuel that cooked food and smelted iron, the material that framed every house and hull, and the first bulk commodity ever moved ...

31 Juli 1h 10min

Ernie Moniz: Reflections on the JCPOA

Ernie Moniz: Reflections on the JCPOA

Former U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz joins Decouple to examine the history of Iran’s nuclear program and the negotiations that produced the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. As the agre...

23 Juli 43min

Fission Impossible? Financing New Nuclear w/ Michael Seely

Fission Impossible? Financing New Nuclear w/ Michael Seely

Why are nuclear power plants so difficult to finance, and who ultimately pays when megaprojects run late or over budget? Chris Keefer is joined by returning guest Michael Seely, The Atomic Blender, fo...

16 Juli 1h 29min

CANDU: The Truly Modular Reactor w/ Navid Badie

CANDU: The Truly Modular Reactor w/ Navid Badie

In this reactor deep dive, Chris Keefer is joined by Navid Badie, Chief Nuclear Engineer at Candu Energy Inc, to explain the inner workings of the distinctive CANDU reactor. They trace how Canada’s de...

24 Juni 1h 9min

Populärt inom Vetenskap

dumma-manniskor
p3-dystopia
rss-mottagningen
angestpodden
allt-du-velat-veta
rss-ronden
kapitalet-en-podd-om-ekonomi
det-morka-psyket
ufo-sverige
svd-nyhetsartiklar
sexet
4health-med-anna-sparre
rss-arkeologi-historia-podden-som-graver-i-vart-kulturlandskap
rss-spraket
rss-vetenskapsradion
vetenskap-och-halsa
rss-vetenskapsradion-2
bildningspodden
medicinvetarna
vetenskapsradion