China's Massive Nuclear Program May Have Widespread Effects

China's plans to have an installed capacity of 40 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2020, meaning it has to start construction of two or three 1,000 MW plants each year.  This could have severe effects on the price of uranium, especially when considering the other plants that are planned for Asia, which has already tripled since 2004 to $35 a pound.  Means of combating uranium usage include:

• Building fast breeder reactors that generate more fuel than they use
• Designing plants that use less uranium
• Exploration for uranium beyond its borders

They are still developing plans for disposal of their nuclear waste.

Two plants are due to be completed this year and three more are under construction using Chinese designs and bidding is underway to build four units with foreign designs.

China's current nuclear capacity is under 10 GW. By comparison (2002 data from International Energy Outlook 2005) Western Europe had 127 GW the US 99 GW, Japan 46 GW and Russia 21 GW. 

Resource: China Seeks New Nuclear Designs Using Less Uranium, Reuters via Planet Ark, Feb. 22, 2006

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