The use of nuclear energy has a negative connotation for many countries and their populations, not just since the Fukushima accident in 2011. While many countries decided to decrease their capacities or withdraw completely from this sector, China, the fastest growing non-OECD country, is the only nation to increase their capacities. This thesis gives a detailed overview of the Chinese nuclear industry, including its challenges and opportunities. 1.1 Background China as the fastest growing economy worldwide, is currently facing a challenging time to meet the energy demand of their population (Dalpino, 2005, p. 46). The heavily populated Eastern region is often subject to electricity outages (Sternfeld, 2010, p. 4), as the used electricity is mainly generated in the less densely populated West, a project supported by the west-east electricity transfer project (Oaks, 2004, p. 154). In the past, China has been mainly relying on their coal resources in order to meet this demand. The domination of coal consumption rose from the need of energy in a large country with a relatively low qualitative supply of natural gas and oil and the rather late development of these sources (Kang Z. , 2014). However, the extensive use of this fossil fuel came at a high price for the Chinese: • Logistic shortages occurred, caused by the geographical distances between the coal resources in the North and North-East and their places of actions mainly in the Eastern part of the country (Sternfeld,
Domestic ,agriculture ,and industry are growing each year rapidly (Doc C). Coal is one of china's biggest malfunction a huge water usage (Doc D). Agriculture uses a ton of water (Doc C).Domestic, Agriculture,and industry are growing each from 1980 to 2011 it has grow 450 billion cubic meters. Coal is one of the greatest malfunction lots of money from it and it keeps grown the are going to keep using more and more water. Because coal uses humongous amount of water.
When looking at the events that transpired, it is clear that the priorities of the nuclear power industry, which were mirrored in “The China Syndrome” did not lead the industry to success. Because of the rush of development, and lack of consideration of safety, nuclear power in its first iteration was bound to fail. "This movie [The China Syndrome] is about greed,” said Douglas, and because of the wrong priorities by the regulatory bodies, private utilities, and private equipment producers, nuclear power was not a good
Even with the quantity of fossil fuels dwindling due to human consumption, coal has remained one of the cheapest, reliable sources of electricity, natural gas, diesel fuel, and steel
In today’s society, we have an almost immediate demand for an alternative source of energy. This is due to the gradual depletion of our finite sources of fossil fuels as well as due to the damage of the burning of fossil fuels to our environment. All of these alternative sources, such as solar, wind and nuclear power come with their upsides and downsides. The most controversial of which, nuclear power, also manages to have the most potential in the near future due to its lack of a carbon emission output.
When someone thinks of problems plaguing the world, nuclear energy is not the first thing that comes to peoples minds these days.[1]Nuclear power was once deemed the new energy of the future.[2]However, numerous nuclear power plant accidents around the world put a damper on that notion.The United States considers itself one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, but 103 nuclear reactors currently operating within her borders, one was bound to fail sometime or another.[3]
Nuclear power was the world’s fastest growing form of energy in the 1990’s. However, presently it is the second slowest growing worldwide. Considering that nuclear power accounts for eleven percent of the world’s energy supply, one must ask what happened [Nuclear Power]. Why is it that the growth of nuclear power has almost completely stalled? The simple answer is that after meltdowns such as Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, many people are afraid of nuclear power plants, which causes great opposition to the expansion of the industry. Unfortunately, most people are not well informed about nuclear energy; many do not take the time to view its positives and negatives.
The disastrous meltdowns that cause whole cities to become uninhabitable, as well as leaving families homeless and laborers without jobs, have defined the negative perspective of what people see in nuclear power. However, even after such catastrophes, the pure raw energy output makes nuclear power essential for the future of the human race. As time passes, the world’s energy usage has grown an increasingly massive size every year due to the consumption swell of energy. Despite nuclear plants being a heavily controversial topic internationally, its advantages are very well recognized and it’s causing nuclear plants to slowly become the basis of our growing society.
As a result, numerous countries are creating more nuclear power plants. From the 1990s, the rate of nuclear power plants constructed increased because of technological and managerial, deregulation, and safety improvements.
The world's natural resources are being consumed at an alarming rate. As these resources diminish, people will be seeking alternative sources by which to generate electricity for heat and light. The only practical short-term solution for the energy/pollution crisis should be nuclear power because it is available, cleaner and safer.
Global demand and consumption of energy is at an all time high; the world needs a safe, efficient, clean, and high producing source of energy production. The solution is something we already use for energy production, Nuclear power. From the beginning of nuclear energy there has been concerns over the safety of the power plants and its impact on the environment. With climate change and more accurate information on nuclear power the tide is shifting in its favor. This paper will explore the positives of nuclear power, political change on nuclear power, safety of the energy source and new technologies associated with the nuclear power process. Most importantly are the risks associated with nuclear power worth it? Research suggests that nuclear power is safer now more than ever and has less of an impact on the environment than coal or oil. Public support and misconceptions over the years have been up and down due to political agendas and those who are misinformed about nuclear power. Individuals who are involved in the energy field are in favor of nuclear power and building more plants with newer technology.
Nuclear reactors were supposed to serve as the solution for the world energy crisis, environmental problems, and a whole slew more due to the interdependency of issues and solutions in our world. However, nuclear reactors still contain many disadvantages such as nuclear waste, nuclear accidents, and the non-renewable nature of uranium-235 that all nuclear reactors rely on (Rinkesh 2013). In just the U.S. there are 99 nuclear reactors (PRIS 2016). Furthermore, there are 438 nuclear reactors active in the world today with all 438 relying on uranium-235 as a central fuel source (World Statistics 2015), which will only perpetuate the existing issues that uranium reactors bring such as nuclear waste and nuclear accidents.
industry contains an untapped potential as a leading giant of the industry. The processes of the
Energy is an essential material basis for human survival and development. As the world biggest developing country, China’s demand for energy will experience a steady increase with the development of the economy . However, many problems are facing the energy security in rural China. At the early state of energy shortage, state policy indicated that the rural energy needed to be self-reliance. Actually, rural energy is a buffer of China’s energy system . With the development of the China’s economy, the government begun to realize the importance of energy security in rural China. As the important sector of national energy policy, the energy development of the rural area is guided by the sustainable energy strategy in China. Meanwhile, environmental issues were induced by massive fossil energy consumption. Most of energy is generated by non-renewable fossil resources in China. These resources will be exhausted in the following couple of decades. Otherwise, the environmental issues were also exposed, most of greenhouse gas and pollutants emission are generated during the process of fossil energy production and use. Renewable energy resources, due to their zero or near-zero emissions of GHGs and air pollutants, are progressively becoming a greater part of the global energy sector . In the national level, Chinese government planned non-fossil fuel energy to reach 11.4 percent and 15 percent of the total energy consumption by 2015 and 2020 .
According to the Nuclear Energy Institute China is the biggest market for the nuclear plants, technology and equipment. They are producing 19 gigawatts and it is planned to increase this number to 58 gigawatts until 2020 and approximately 150 gigawatts until 2030 (Nuclear Energy Institute, 2015, p. 1). Nowadays the nuclear energy plays a small role in Chinese energy industry. According to the IEAE it was 2.39% of the total production in 2014 – 130580 gWh (IAEA - PRIS, 2015c).
In the United States, 42 percent of the nation’s electricity is generated by burning coal as coal is cheap and plentiful.