nuclear-news

Nuclear Energy Becomes Part of China-U.S. Talks

Nuclear Energy Becomes Part of China-U.S. Talks, Official Says

Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) Jeremy van Loon-– Talks between the U.S. and China, the biggest producers of greenhouse gases, are evolving to include sharing expertise in nuclear-energy technology.

Atomic reactors, which discharge far fewer heat-trapping gases that conventional power plants, will become a “very important” part of the negotiations on energy and climate change, said David Sandalow, the U.S. Department of Energy’s assistant secretary for policy and international affairs.

The two countries release about 40 percent of the man-made greenhouse gases that enter the atmosphere and are blamed for global warming. They’re trying to bridge gaps on sharing responsibility for tackling climate change, and the U.S. plans to support more commercial cooperation on nuclear energy, Sandalow said.

“Nuclear is going to be more of a focus in future trips” to negotiate with China, he said yesterday in an interview. “It’s an important part of the solution to the global warming problem.”

Companies like General Electric Co., Toshiba Corp.’s Westinghouse Electric Co. unit and France’s Areva SA are jockeying for more than $1 trillion worth of contracts for reactors worldwide in the coming decade.

China is hosting a meeting of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership in October, Sandalow said. The world’s third-largest economy has 15 reactors being built and another 34 planned, according to the World Nuclear Organization.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell said today in Beijing that there is a “50-50” chance that President Barack Obama will be able to sign a law curbing greenhouse-gas emissions before a global conference on climate change meets in December in Copenhagen.

November Agreement

Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, will meet Xie Zhenhua, China’s top climate-change negotiator, while in Beijing. She also said that Obama should sign an agreement with Chinese President Hu Jintao during his planned visit to China in November that commits the U.S. and China to cooperate to curb emissions.

The U.S. has the most operating nuclear reactors in the world, at 104, followed by France, which has 59, according to the World Nuclear Organization. China has 11 running.

While conventional reactors don’t release carbon dioxide as do coal- or oil-burning power plants, they typically discharge heat into rivers and seas to cool their generators.

Nuclear Energy Becomes Part of China-U.S. Talks, Official Says – Bloomberg.com

September 5, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, 2 WORLD, climate change, politics | antinuclear, nuclear