China Could Overtake the U.S. as Major Nuclear Power-Generating Nation by 2030

FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

China Could Overtake the U.S. as Major Nuclear Power-Generating Nation by 2030

Feb. 22, 2018 (EIRNS)—Addressing the International Petroleum Week conference in London on Feb. 21, International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol expressed concerns that the U.S. and Europe aren’t investing enough in nuclear power, while China is charging ahead.

“China is coming back strong. Today, there are about 60 nuclear power plants under construction, and more than one-third of them are in China. China is growing, and as a result of that we’ll soon see China overtaking the United States as the number-one nuclear power in the world,”

MarketWatch reported today. Birol said he expects China to overtake the U.S. as the biggest nuclear nation by 2030.

He pointed out that the U.S. had been the global leader in nuclear power since the 1960s, but that

“two trends are threatening to knock the country out of the top spot: Very few additions to nuclear capacity, and no lifetime extensions for the existing power plants. The same goes for Europe.”

He said if this trend continues, the U.S. nuclear capacity will drop from 20% of overall power supply to 7%.