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Why is China going nuclear?

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  • Zhou, Yun

Abstract

In November 2007, China's State Council approved its "Medium- and Long-Term Nuclear Power Development Plan", which set as a goal to increase the nation's nuclear capacity from about 7 to 40Â GWe by 2020. In March 2008, the National Development and Reform Commission suggested installed nuclear power capacity might even exceed 60Â GWe by 2020 due to faster than expected construction. Even with this growth, nuclear power's share of China's installed total capacity would be only about 5 percent. Yet China's rapid nuclear expansion poses serious financial, political, security, and environmental challenges. This study investigates China's claim that nuclear energy is necessary to meet its growing energy demands by analyzing China's energy alternatives and assessing their likelihood of contributing to total Chinese capacity. By looking at China's transformative energy policy from several perspectives, this study finds that nuclear energy is indeed a necessity for China.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhou, Yun, 2010. "Why is China going nuclear?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3755-3762, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:38:y:2010:i:7:p:3755-3762
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Anadón, Laura Díaz, 2012. "Missions-oriented RD&D institutions in energy between 2000 and 2010: A comparative analysis of China, the United Kingdom, and the United States," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(10), pages 1742-1756.
    2. Zhang, Na & Lior, Noam & Jin, Hongguang, 2011. "The energy situation and its sustainable development strategy in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 3639-3649.
    3. Wang, Jianliang & Feng, Lianyong & Davidsson, Simon & Höök, Mikael, 2013. "Chinese coal supply and future production outlooks," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 204-214.
    4. Yu, Sha & Yarlagadda, Brinda & Siegel, Jonas Elliott & Zhou, Sheng & Kim, Sonny, 2020. "The role of nuclear in China's energy future: Insights from integrated assessment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    5. Lam, J. & Cheung, L. & Han, Y. & Wang, S., 2018. "China’s Response to Nuclear Safety Post-Fukushima: Genuine or Rhetoric?," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1866, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    6. Chi, Cheryl S.F. & Chen, Ling, 2012. "The sources of divergent practices in China's nuclear power sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 348-357.
    7. Rong, Fang & Victor, David G., 2011. "Coal liquefaction policy in China: Explaining the policy reversal since 2006," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 8175-8184.
    8. Brook, Barry W., 2012. "Could nuclear fission energy, etc., solve the greenhouse problem? The affirmative case," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 4-8.
    9. Tang, Ling & Yu, Lean & He, Kaijian, 2014. "A novel data-characteristic-driven modeling methodology for nuclear energy consumption forecasting," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 1-14.
    10. Guoyang Wu & Ping Ju & Xinli Song & Chenglong Xie & Wuzhi Zhong, 2016. "Interaction and Coordination among Nuclear Power Plants, Power Grids and Their Protection Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-24, April.
    11. Laura Rodríguez-Penalonga & B. Yolanda Moratilla Soria, 2017. "A Review of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Strategies and the Spent Nuclear Fuel Management Technologies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-16, August.
    12. Valentine, Scott Victor, 2014. "The socio-political economy of electricity generation in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 416-429.
    13. Wang, Qiang & Li, Rongrong & He, Gang, 2018. "Research status of nuclear power: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 90-96.
    14. Guo, Xiaopeng & Guo, Xiaodan, 2016. "Nuclear power development in China after the restart of new nuclear construction and approval: A system dynamics analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 999-1007.
    15. B. Yolanda Moratilla Soria & Rosario Ruiz-Sánchez & Mathilde Estadieu & Borja Belda-Sánchez & Cristina Cordón-Peralta & Paula Martín-Cañas & Laura Rodriguez-Penalonga & M. Del Mar Cledera-Castro & M. , 2015. "Impact of the Taxes on Used Nuclear Fuel on the Fuel Cycle Economics in Spain," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-14, February.
    16. Roh, Seungkook & Choi, Jae Young & Chang, Soon Heung, 2019. "Modeling of nuclear power plant export competitiveness and its implications: The case of Korea," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 157-169.
    17. Tang, Ling & Yu, Lean & Wang, Shuai & Li, Jianping & Wang, Shouyang, 2012. "A novel hybrid ensemble learning paradigm for nuclear energy consumption forecasting," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 432-443.
    18. Zhang, Xiaohong & Wu, Liqian & Zhang, Rong & Deng, Shihuai & Zhang, Yanzong & Wu, Jun & Li, Yuanwei & Lin, Lili & Li, Li & Wang, Yinjun & Wang, Lilin, 2013. "Evaluating the relationships among economic growth, energy consumption, air emissions and air environmental protection investment in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 259-270.
    19. Wang, Run & Liu, Wenjuan & Xiao, Lishan & Liu, Jian & Kao, William, 2011. "Path towards achieving of China's 2020 carbon emission reduction target--A discussion of low-carbon energy policies at province level," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 2740-2747, May.
    20. Ling Tang & Shuai Wang & Kaijian He & Shouyang Wang, 2015. "A novel mode-characteristic-based decomposition ensemble model for nuclear energy consumption forecasting," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 234(1), pages 111-132, November.
    21. Lam, Jacqueline C.K. & Cheung, Lawrence Y.L. & Han, Yang & Wang, Shanshan, 2022. "China's response to nuclear safety pre- and post-Fukushima: An interdisciplinary analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).

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    Keywords

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