China begins major nuclear build-out, betting on the future

15-Sept-2024

It is no wonder that developing countries follow a well-worn path to industrialization. China's entry into the industrial age is no different. Burning things is the easiest way to generate the heat and electricity needed to participate in manufacturing. So it is no wonder that China became infamous, as did 19th century England, for burning coal. Massive clouds of pollution blanketed the atmosphere, affecting air quality, especially that of neighboring countries.

However, the obvious next step in industrial evolution is the switch to sources of energy that impact the environment less, or at least manage to localize the impact. Nuclear energy is a clean alternative to burning coal and other biological matter. The only real issues are become sophisticated enough to run nuclear power plants and handling long-term storage of radioactive bi-products. The former is a matter of training a skilled work-force. The latter is a solved problem, once you understand that spent nuclear fuel can be stored safely in dry casks. The amount of land needed is available at nuclear sites.

Of course, nuclear comes with bug-a-boos, irrational fears based on past bad practices, plus a large amount of fear-mongering by people who don't know better or who have an agenda to continue burning stuff. Fossil fuel supply chains prefer to maintain their markets, rather than expand to include fissile fuels, such as uranium and thorium.

China is smart to lead the expansion of nuclear with it's planned build-out. Perhaps its form of government makes the decision possible, rather than wallowing in indecision as supposedly freer nations do, or backing out of nuclear entirely like Germany and Australia. Why so-called industrializes countries are abandoning nuclear is a mystery. It's a form of self-immolation, as with declining birth rates that doom prosperous countries.