Part 3 of 3 parts (Please read Parts 1 and 2 first)
The danger of such events in the BRI countries are quite high. The Dean of the Institute of International Affairs at Nanjing University said that “Security is the most important challenge facing the Belt and Road.” The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has already contributed to tensions between Pakistan and India, both of which have nuclear weapons. Pakistan is prone to earthquakes, tsunamis and terrorism. There are two reactors under construction by China in Pakistan just outside of Karachi. They are less than twenty miles away from a very populated area. If there was a major accident at the plant, evacuation of the nearby population would simply be impossible. Terrorists have killed forty-four BRI construction workers in Pakistan since 2014. It is difficult to see how building another six reactors in Pakistan will ease the distrust and tension in the region.
Many supporters of nuclear power and many environmentalists who had been opposed to it are now saying that we cannot mitigate climate change without a major investment in nuclear power. In reality, only one stage of the fourteen stages of the nuclear fuel cycle are actually “carbon-free.”
Nuclear reactors consume huge amounts of water for cooling. Many of the countries in the BRI have chronic shortages of water. For example, Pakistan is slated to run out of water by 2025. While desalination would help solve this problem, not all of the BRI countries are located on the coast of an ocean. And, desalination is currently expensive and difficult.
There is still no good solution for final disposal of spent nuclear fuel despite the fact that nuclear power has been a reality for over sixty years. What will happen to all the spent nuclear fuel from the planned nuclear reactors?
Major accidents such as the Fukushima event in Japan in 2011 can cause major environmental damage and spread radiation all over the world. In addition to the damage to environment and public health, one more major disaster such as Fukushima could spell doom for the entire global industry as the politicians and investors turn away.
Around the year 2000, there was a lot of talk about a global “nuclear renaissance.” Now it looks more like we have descended into a nuclear quagmire. There are many NPP projects across the developed world that have been either delayed or cancelled. China is leading a nuclear resurgence that has little concern for political, humanitarian or safety issues.
This does not mean that there are no positive elements to the BRI but there are still very serious unresolved security problems to confront. The BRI does include many renewable energy projects which are promising for the host countries and will certainly help with climate change mitigation. It would be better for everyone across the globe if China and the BRI focused on renewable energy and left nuclear power behind on the ash heap of history where it rightly belongs.
Developing countries can learn from the mistakes of developed nations and opt for new cleaner and cheaper technologies than those employed by the developed world.