In 2020 nuclear energy created more zero-carbon energy across the world than any other source, beating out wind, solar, and hydroelectric. While the United States is retiring more nuclear plants than it's building, China is building nuclear power plants at a breakneck speed.
In most situations, Sean Kenny is not a fan of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). But the speed with which they are building nuclear power plants is something to be commended. It's a very much-needed development, seeing as China is currently the number one polluter worldwide. Not only are they building a number of PWRs (pressurized water reactors), they're also developing 4th gen nuclear reactors that will generate less waste.
The reason they're doing this is due to numerous environmental disasters over the past years. An estimated 30 million Chinese citizens have died due to breathing the polluted air and in some cities, the smog is so thick you can't tell what time of day it is. It's disappointing that it took hitting this point for action to be taken, but at least it is being taken.
Of course, China can only mobilize in this fashion because it is an authoritarian state that cares little for individual freedoms. We don't expect the United States to be able to mobilize on this scale and we certainly don't want it to do so at the cost of individual rights. But other countries have been able to transition to mostly nuclear (France namely), so we know it is possible to get there eventually.
For now, we commend China on rolling out these nuclear plants and cleaning up their skies.
#china #nuclearenergy #greenenergy #zerocarbon
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