Nuclear safety regulations slacker in China: Bill Gates to export ‘new nuclear’ there

Bill Gates Making Progress On Next Generation Of Nuclear Power — In China, Forbes James Conca, 2 Oct 15, “…….Washington State exports more stuff to China than to any other nation. ……Now nuclear reactors will enter that list. Bill Gates’ nuclear power company, TerraPower, signed an agreement with the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) allowing the two companies to collaborate on advanced nuclear technologies that address safety, environmental and cost issues. The MOU was signed by TerraPower CEO Lee McIntire and CNNC President Qian Zhimin, as Washington’s Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen and Bill Gates looked on……..

TerraPower’s version of this reactor is called the Traveling Wave Reactor (TWR), a liquid sodium-cooled fast reactor that uses depleted or natural uranium as fuel, and can even burn spent fuel from our old reactors.

TerraPower plans to build a 600 MWe plant first by the early 2020s, followed by a larger 1,150 MWe commercial plant……Unfortunately, the regulatory environment in America is so glacial that TerraPower and CNNC will build the first unit in China and then deploy commercial versions of this new reactor to global markets within fifteen years…..

TerraPower’s CTO, John Gilleland feels that, “They’re very serious. In some ways, they’re more serious than we are.” He knows that China believes in climate change and wants to reduce the smog that’s choking its cities and threatening their emerging health care system…….

It’s imperative that clean energy, like new nuclear, dominate that growth – not coal. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2015/10/02/bill-gates-forges-nuclear-deal-with-china/

October 4, 2015 - Posted by Christina MacPherson | Uncategorized

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