Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin participated in a video call on Wednesday during which the two countries signed the construction of four new nuclear reactors in China. The world’s leaders see the implementation of nuclear energy as a necessary step in making their countries climate neutral. Meanwhile, the development of nuclear power projects in Europe has been on hold for decades.
China and Russia agreed in 2018 to work more closely together to expand nuclear energy within their borders. This was confirmed again on Wednesday during a hypothetical meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese colleague Xi Jinping. On the agenda: Building more nuclear reactors.
The first project on the horizon concerns four new nuclear reactors to be located at the Tianwan and Zodabao power plants. These power plants are located in the eastern coastal province of Jiangsu and northeastern Liaoning Province, respectively, on the border with North Korea.
30 million tons less carbon dioxide emissions
It is not known what the project will cost. What we do know is that when drafting the nuclear energy agreement between China and Russia, at least $ 2.9 billion was allocated by the two superpowers.
The four new nuclear reactors could supply China about 37.6 billion kilowatt hours per year, according to Chinese state media CCTV. With this strength, China could emit at least 30.68 million tons less carbon dioxide each year.
Putin is laughing off his sleeve
With this latest investment, China continues its nuclear energy success story well. At the end of March, the country was already able to show off good numbers for the Hualong nuclear program. With this project, China has successfully introduced a new generation of pressurized water reactors in the country. With Hualong nuclear reactors, China hopes to become climate neutral by 2060.
Meanwhile, no new nuclear energy program has been launched in Europe in decades. Chinese scientists have strong doubts whether it is possible to switch completely to wind and solar energy without any use of nuclear energy. Opinions on this remain deeply divided in Europe.
Meanwhile, Putin might be laughing. He described this latest cooperation with China as “the pinnacle of Russian-Chinese relations.”
(EVB)
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