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     Organizers of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) believe that nuclear energy must play a role in weaning the world off fossil fuels. They are probably comfortable with Chinese plans to make nuclear power a major part of its energy future. High-profile accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima have tarnished the attraction of nuclear power in much of the world. China is the world’s largest carbon emitter but it is pressing ahead with plans for new nuclear construction.
     China has approved at least twenty-one new nuclear power reactors since 2021. Each year, six to eight new nuclear reactors are expected to be approved. This was reported by Xinhua which is the state-controlled news agency. China already generates more power through nuclear energy than any other country except the U.S. They aim to meet ten percent of their national power needs with nuclear energy by 2035 and eighteen percent by 2060.
     Sultan Al Jaber is the President of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 28), which opens November 30th in Dubai. Jaber told Agence France-Presse earlier this year that he supports expanding nuclear power. He called it a “robust bridge” in energy transition.
      However, China has a long way to go in its nuclear ambitions and several serious obstacles to overcome if it is to reach its goal. Nuclear power currently accounts for only two and two tenths of its installed electricity generation capacity and ranks last behind other alternative energy sources including thermal, hydro, wind and solar.
     Safety concerns following Japan’s devastating Fukushima nuclear disaster in March of 2011 have hampered the growth of nuclear energy in China. This was reported by Philip Andrew-Speed who is a senior researcher fellow at the Oxford Institute of Energy studies. Andrew-Speed said that “What happened after Fukushima was [China] suspended the construction of all new [nuclear] plants. They also sustained this policy that no inland nuclear power plants [can be built].”
     The planned nuclear power plants will be constructed near the coastline as it requires a lot of fresh water for them to operate. It is considered less of a risk to discharge highly radioactive wastewater into bodies of water near the plants.
     Compared with other clean energy sources such as solar and wind plants, nuclear power plants require longer to construct and put into operation. This is because of their complex nature and safety concerns according to nuclear experts. China currently has a shortage of skilled workers in this field.
     Currently, there are about fifty-five nuclear power plants in China. Another twenty plants are under construction. Achieving ten percent of energy mix by 2035 could be very difficult. Bing Lam Luk is the laboratory manager for the City University of Hong Kong and the chairperson of the Hong Kong Nuclear Society.
     Luk said “It takes on average about 10 years or more to build one plant, so unless authorities speed up greenlighting new plants, reaching 10% can be hard. … Another issue is that it’s increasingly difficult to find a new site along the coast to build it.”
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