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China is also massively building nuclear with 29 reactors being built in parallel. Source: https://pris.iaea.org/pris/worldstatistics/underconstructionreactors

China is also massively building nuclear with 29 reactors being built in parallel. Source: https://pris.iaea.org/pris/worldstatistics/underconstructionreactorsbycountry.aspx https://pris.iaea.org/pris/worldstatistics/underconstruction...

nine_k 2y ago
Are they varied, or mostly the same model?
- defrost 2y ago
  Mostly similar but with a lot of breadth, eg: they have three generations of molten salt reactors on the go ATM (one pilot complete, one 10x large half complete, one even bigger on the drawing board being modified on basis of results from first two). See: (for example) https://itif.org/publications/2024/06/17/how-innovative-is-china-in-nuclear-power/ https://itif.org/publications/2024/06/17/how-innovative-is-c...
epistasis 2y ago
And thats small potatoes compared to their wind and solar efforts, something like 339 GW in 2023 and going way up every year.
- defrost 2y ago
  Or, using percentages: China’s commitment to nuclear power increased significantly with the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025), released in March 2021, which called for a buildout of some 150 new nuclear reactors over the ensuing 15 years to reach a production goal of 200 GW of nuclear energy by 2035 (enough to power more than a dozen cities the size of Beijing). By 2050, China wants nuclear to provide at least 15 percent of its electricity generation (which China envisions as its third overall source of energy by that year, behind wind and solar). ~ https://itif.org/publications/2024/06/17/how-innovative-is-china-in-nuclear-power/ https://itif.org/publications/2024/06/17/how-innovative-is-c...
  - ZeroGravitas 2y ago
    And they're roughly a decade behind schedule on their nuclear plans, and roughly a decade ahead of schedule on their renewable plans.
    - defrost 2y ago
      How are they ten years behind on a schedule launched three years ago?
      - ZeroGravitas 2y ago
        The Chinese publish their plans on a 5 year schedule. They abandoned all plans for inland nuclear plants, in total they cancelled twice as much nuclear as the US has currently running. China is right now just reaching the goal it set for 2020 capacity in 2016 and things appear to be slowing down.
        travisporter 2y ago
        I just don’t get this. Why is it so damn hard to do nuclear anywhere when France does it so well? You’d think regulations in china would not be the reason
        epistasis 2y ago
        France is not doing nuclear well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPR_(nuclear_reactor) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPR_(nuclear_reactor) > In December 2007, construction of the unit itself began. This was expected to last 54 months, with commissioning planned for 2012 However it is still under construction. Olkiluoto was also a major disaster for France, though it was eventually completed. South Korea is probably the best example for nuclear construction success, but they have had to jail a few people for forging inspection results. All in all, I think China has done fairly well with nuclear. Nuclear is a massive project that is insanely complex. It is not helped by trivializing the complexity, nor is it helped when people focus more on public opposition than the construction challenges, IMHO.

nine_k 2y ago

Are they varied, or mostly the same model?

defrost 2y ago
Mostly similar but with a lot of breadth, eg: they have three generations of molten salt reactors on the go ATM (one pilot complete, one 10x large half complete, one even bigger on the drawing board being modified on basis of results from first two). See: (for example) https://itif.org/publications/2024/06/17/how-innovative-is-china-in-nuclear-power/ https://itif.org/publications/2024/06/17/how-innovative-is-c...

epistasis 2y ago

And thats small potatoes compared to their wind and solar efforts, something like 339 GW in 2023 and going way up every year.

defrost 2y ago
Or, using percentages: China’s commitment to nuclear power increased significantly with the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025), released in March 2021, which called for a buildout of some 150 new nuclear reactors over the ensuing 15 years to reach a production goal of 200 GW of nuclear energy by 2035 (enough to power more than a dozen cities the size of Beijing). By 2050, China wants nuclear to provide at least 15 percent of its electricity generation (which China envisions as its third overall source of energy by that year, behind wind and solar). ~ https://itif.org/publications/2024/06/17/how-innovative-is-china-in-nuclear-power/ https://itif.org/publications/2024/06/17/how-innovative-is-c...
- ZeroGravitas 2y ago
  And they're roughly a decade behind schedule on their nuclear plans, and roughly a decade ahead of schedule on their renewable plans.
  - defrost 2y ago
    How are they ten years behind on a schedule launched three years ago?
    - ZeroGravitas 2y ago
      The Chinese publish their plans on a 5 year schedule. They abandoned all plans for inland nuclear plants, in total they cancelled twice as much nuclear as the US has currently running. China is right now just reaching the goal it set for 2020 capacity in 2016 and things appear to be slowing down.
      - travisporter 2y ago
        I just don’t get this. Why is it so damn hard to do nuclear anywhere when France does it so well? You’d think regulations in china would not be the reason
        epistasis 2y ago
        France is not doing nuclear well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPR_(nuclear_reactor) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPR_(nuclear_reactor) > In December 2007, construction of the unit itself began. This was expected to last 54 months, with commissioning planned for 2012 However it is still under construction. Olkiluoto was also a major disaster for France, though it was eventually completed. South Korea is probably the best example for nuclear construction success, but they have had to jail a few people for forging inspection results. All in all, I think China has done fairly well with nuclear. Nuclear is a massive project that is insanely complex. It is not helped by trivializing the complexity, nor is it helped when people focus more on public opposition than the construction challenges, IMHO.