Why isn't China going all in on nuclear? And yes before you say it, yes China is building way more nuclear then anyone else. But not relative to their population and country size. If you scale generation up to the size of their economy, population and power needs, they should be building 100+ reactors every year, not over 15 years.
Consider this, China is a net food and energy importer, a disruption in their supply chains, or say a blockade of their shipping routes would destroy them. A few terawatts worth of stable nuclear would solve almost all of their problems. No need for oil/gas/coal imports, no air pollution, any excess energy could be used to desalinate water/grow crops in large greenhouses and make synthetic fuel/food. Even more uranium wouldn't be an issue, since they can get most of it via overland supply routes and via neighboring countries that they have largely good relationships with, or breeding more with their new snazzy FAST reactors.
They have the money, they have the political support and will, they have the technology, they have the large amount of skilled labor, they have the land, water and space for them, so why aren't they planning for thousands of new reactors?
Consider this, China is a net food and energy importer, a disruption in their supply chains, or say a blockade of their shipping routes would destroy them. A few terawatts worth of stable nuclear would solve almost all of their problems. No need for oil/gas/coal imports, no air pollution, any excess energy could be used to desalinate water/grow crops in large greenhouses and make synthetic fuel/food. Even more uranium wouldn't be an issue, since they can get most of it via overland supply routes and via neighboring countries that they have largely good relationships with, or breeding more with their new snazzy FAST reactors.
They have the money, they have the political support and will, they have the technology, they have the large amount of skilled labor, they have the land, water and space for them, so why aren't they planning for thousands of new reactors?