China has 21 nuclear reactors under construction which will have a capacity for generating more than 21 gigawatts of electricity, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. That is two and a half times more nuclear reactors under construction than any other country.
I love that China is not planning to power all future demand with more coal and gas.
I’ve got no reason to believe they’re doing anything dangerous. I found this piece which indicates that they did a review in the wake of Fukushima. Sounds like things were adequate but they also found things to improve. Do you have reason to believe China is not taking safety seriously in there nuclear energy program?
China moves to strengthen nuclear safety standards and moderate the pace of its nuclear power development
If the China government were doing the wrong thing, would Chinese scientists and engineers be safe to say so, or would they be subject to imprisonment and torture for disagreeing with their political superiors?
Without freedom of political speech there is no freedom to tell the truth on matters of political controversy. This includes environmental and safety issues.
That’s kind of true, but the Chinese government is probably competent enough to not mess with nuclear safety.
Yes? Unlike in the US, whether to care about safety or health aren’t political issues.
Also, the punishment for severely fucking up isn’t a small fine or imprisonment, it’s execution. If Fukushima happened in China, heads would literally roll. That’s a pretty strong incentive to not fuck up from the plant manager/architect/designer standpoint.
I get it, you don’t like China. They’re still a big player in global emissions and I’m still glad they’re not meeting their complete energy demand with coal/ng. You should be too.
The ability of chinese scientists and engineers to act in their roles without interference from the state is offtopic. If you want to talk about that, go make a thread about it.
In a discussion about plant safety that is relevant, surely.
China’s safety record in other energy sectors is poor. This is presumably not on purpose. What reason is there to believe it will be better at managing nuclear?