China Plans To Quadruple Nuclear Generating Capacity - Reuters`

[hatrack]

SINGAPORE - Heady economic growth and a worsening power shortage is prodding China to hasten the building of nuclear power plants to fill an energy supply gap in the world's fastest-growing major economy, Beijing-based experts say.

Beijing has drafted a preliminary plan to quadruple nuclear power capacity to more than 32,000 megawatts (MW) between 2005 and 2020, or roughly two plants a year. China has built only eight reactors over the past two decades.

EDIT

China runs 6,200 MW at eight nuclear generators all in the east coast and is building another three, which would bring total capacity to 8,800 MW by the end of 2005.

The country's electricity demand surged at a sizzling 15.4 percent last year to 1.89 trillion kilowatt hours, driven by 9.1 percent economic growth, stretching the supply system and plunging 22 out of 31 provinces into brown-outs. Demand is set to expand about 11 percent this year. Analysts estimate China's power demand would grow at an annual average of 4.3 percent between 2001 and 2025, the fastest in the world."

EDIT

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/23865/story.htm

[jmcgowanjm]

1. Demand is set to expand about 11 percent this year

This will be impossible.

plunging 22 out of 31 provinces into brown-outs. This
is new news. Brown-outs will increase.

I'm claiming to be The New Kyoto. We won't burn as much oil each year because it simply won't come out of the ground.

http://www.princeton.edu/hubbert/current-events.html

[NNadir]

2. There has been real fear in greenhouse gas circles of China's

rapidly expanding economy and the difficulties that increases in the standard of living will bring in consumptive terms. This should serve to ameliorate that effect.

China will surpass the United States economy (which is in severe decline) ultimately. One sign of that is that they are actively preparing for the post fossil fuel world. We, on the other hand, are dreaming.