Brain Top Off!

A breakthrough in atomic energy production was revealed in China Monday. A major hurdle to efficient nuclear energy, the reprocessing of used nuclear fuel, has been cleared by Chinese nuclear engineers. China’s limited supply of nuclear fuel, previously expected to last 70 years, may now be extended to 3,000 years.

China making a discovery with nuclear energy

China’s nuclear power producing capacity could increase tenfold in 10 years if its government’s states about reprocessing spent uranium are true. There is the possibility of reprocessing used nuclear fuel which will recover unused uranium and plutonium. Nuclear waste could be drastically reduced. The U.S., a few European countries, China and Japan reprocess nuclear fuel; but the engineering is a closely-guarded industrial secret. Nobody knows what is different about China’s reprocessing technique. But according to China Central TV, a kilo of uranium could produce up to 60 times more energy than is currently possible in China.

China aims to lead world in nuclear energy

Pollution is going up while China is intending to fix the energy demand surges and pollution with nuclear power. China surpassed the United States as the largest power consumer in the globe. In 2009 this happened. There are a lot of coal energy plants in the country. About 70 percent of the power in the country is supplied this way. The Beijing government plans to supply 5 percent of China’s energy needs with nuclear power by 2020. By 2030, experts predict that China could pass the U.S. as the world leader in atomic energy production. Currently China has 13 nuclear reactors. The U.S. has 104 reactors in use now.

The massive power need in China

China is now the second largest economy in the world which occurred this year after passing Japan. If the economy is going to continue growing, more power demands will have to be met. Probably the most driven nuclear reactor construction program in history could be what the country is about to work on. Right now, the construction of twenty six nuclear reactors is being done. There can be hundreds more within the future too. Foreign suppliers were where China started looking before it re-engineered nuclear technology. Not the country plans on selling its own plans soon.

Citations

The Guardian

guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/03/china-claims-new-nuclear-technology

Energy Digital

energydigital.com/tags/nuclear-fuel/china-makes-nuclear-fuel-breakthrough

AFP

google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iA_mBduPQHSCRjVR9Xuwbro6Gh0Q?docId=CNG.0fdda25599cfdc1fbf798ce7851d9c51.3b1

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