China: Full Speed Ahead On Nuclear Energy

Two items out of China caught my eye this morning. First, here's a report from XFN-Asia:

China's uranium demand is expected to grow 4-6 times by 2020, as the country increases its annual installed nuclear power capacity to 40 mln kilowatts from 9 mln at present, a government official said.

My guess is that a lot of that uranium is going to be coming from Australia, where I'm sure our Aussie friends are going to be happy to cash the checks.

Next, there's this statement from China's Vice Premier, Zeng Peiyan:

China should further develop the new generation nuclear power technology to ensure the sustainable development of the economy, Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan said on Tuesday.

Zeng made the remarks when inspecting the 10MW high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) in Tsinghua University.

"Developing the technology of generating power with HTGR is significant for promoting the country's innovative capability, improving the energy structure and building up a resource-efficient and environment-friendly society," Zeng said.

China still has a few hundred million people it wants to lift out of poverty, and those people are going to need electric power. I'm glad to see that nuclear is going to be part of that mix.