The United States has kept a tight grip on to its peaceful nuclear technology for decades, forcing emerging nations like China to purchase Russian, French and Canadian designs.  American company Westinghouse, however, has been allowed to deliver its newest third-generation nuclear plant to China.

Radio Australia reports that the need for energy over the coming few decades is reaching a fever pitch in red-hot economies like China.  (2008/1/07)

Energy analyst with the International Atomic Energy Agency, Alan McDonald, told Radio Australia that China and India will be the most veracious about the most controversial energy source of all.  "China and India have booming economies, booming populations, growing energy demand; they basically need to develop all the energy sources they can," he said.  "Right now, nuclear electricity is only a small percentage - two per cent in China, three per cent of electricity in India but China plans a five-fold increase by 2020 and India plans an eight-fold increase by 2022."

US nuclear cooperation 'remarkable'

Nuclear energy, along with its massive hydroelectric schemes, are the centrepiece of tough pollution and energy consumption targets in China.   China's 11 nuclear plants are a combination of homegrown, French, Canadian and Russian technologies. 

For the first time, however, China is developing nuclear energy technology through agreements with the United States - four new reactors with American firm, Westinghouse. 

The World Nuclear Association's Ian Hore-Lacy told Radio Australia the cooperation is remarkable, given US reluctance to help in the past.  "It's generally believed that that's because of technology transfer aspects and they were wanting a high level of technology transfer and the right to be able to then adapt and sell that technology by way of exports from China," he said.  "The Westinghouse deal is presumed to have come closer to that objective than the others and also of course there is the actual intrinsic virtue of the three technologies being offered and by some accounts the Westinghouse was the most advanced."

Nuclear energy renaissance

Two new second-generation nuclear reactors have gone online in China's Jiangsu province - the two Tianwan reactors use 50 tonnes of nuclear fuel a year, with virtually no emissions.  Coal-fired power plants, with the same capacity, require six million tonnes of coal.  Jiangsu is now closing down many small, highly-polluting coal fired power plants. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency's Alan McDonald says pollution is just one of the many concerns driving a renaissance in the nuclear energy industry.  "There are good reasons for that renaissance in interest - the nuclear power has a strong and successful performance record, its' economics are strong in most countries, new environmental constraints such as greenhouse gases make it attractive, energy security concerns," he said.  "There are good reasons for the renaissance of interest, whether it turns into a renaissance of operating plants is still yet to be seen and there's still a fair amount of uncertainty." 

Read more: Politicians aren't off the hook in the U.K., the Guardian notes, as scientists and environmentalists have attacked government plans to jump-start nuclear production to curb GHG emissions there, saying the government consultation process ignored nuclear risks. No such worries in China, Xinhua reports: construction begins in March on a third-generation Westinghouse nuclear reactor, which should be the world's first.

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The bosses of Chinese companies that pollute waterways could be docked half their salary, in the latest proposal to tackle the country's environmental problems.  Xinhua news agency says a draft law, which will hold company heads directly responsible for water pollution, will be submitted for review by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress - the country's top legislature.  As it currently stands, only the firms - not individuals - can be fined for any water pollution they cause.  Three decades of unchecked industrialisation have led to massive contamination of China's water supplies.  According to previously released government figures, more than 70 per cent of the China's waterways and 90 per cent of its underground water is polluted.  

China's Smog Shutdown: Beijing Closes Factories In Bid to Clear the Air For the Olympics  2/28  SB120415193959097517  Greening China Delays Polluters' IPOs  2/26  SB120396371965190911  Three Gorges Cleanup Fails to Gain in China  2/21  SB120350566588879809  Pact May Ease Impact Of Three Gorges Dam  1/29  SB120154424362122751

If China's energy-hungry economy is slowing down, as many investors fear, that would at least seem to have the benefit of bringing down energy prices. Don't count on it.  1/31  SB120174633342730861

Officials from major economies gather in Hawaii (1/30) for a new round of global-warming talks aimed at hashing out a treaty.  SB120165797227327335 

China has issued an 'urgent' call for the coal industry, electricity providers and government agencies to ensure adequate coal supplies as a nationwide power crisis looms.  The National Development and Reform Commission says coal and electricity supplies have fallen to emergency levels.  Businesses and government agencies are being asked to push electricity conservation and to ensure coal is brought to market quickly.  The supply shortage has reportedly caused 13 provincial power grids in central and southern China to impose restrictions on electricity use.
Worries Over Supplies Grow As Beijing Halts Coal Exports  1/29  SB120154585856622855
China Aims to Curb Power Shortages  1/24  SB120111370804910481

Green-Mart: Wal-Mart Stores opens its first energy-efficient Supercenter this week (1/21) near Chicago, promising to cut energy use by 25%.
Wind, Solar Power Gain Users  1/18  SB120062633529299857
Cadmium batteries, once manufactured in the West, are now largely made in China, where the industry is sickening workers. The batteries' toxic toll shows how China's labor force bears the brunt of a manufacturing system that puts cost ahead of safety.  1/15  SB119972343587572351
The future for China's factories and how P2E2 will help make the country a cleaner, greener place.  2008/1/14  SB120023060081786631
Tracking the Carbon Trail  2007/12/28  SB119880485275254475
Areva's China Deal May Influence Breakup Decision  2007/11/26  SB119602387528903273
What Gore's Nobel Prize Means for Political Climate  2007/10/13  SB119217994461357186
Wells Take Voyage to Bottom of the Sea 2007/7/26 SB118541413035278504
Alternative Energy Hurt By a Windmill Shortage 2007/7/09 SB118394439319360560

CUTTING THROUGH THE SMOG: Steven Q. Andrews says in a commentary on our opinion pages that a closer look at the data and collection methods cast doubt on Beijing's claims of improved air quality.  1/09  SB119983312470175979

SEPA China's Green Police: Eco-Watchdog Gets Teeth  2007/12/18
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China Targets Export Industry Pollution  2007/11/01
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Informed Reader: How Multinationals Address Pollution Woes  2007/5/30
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China's Capitalist Transformation  2006/12/18  SB116639648334652910
Pollution May Drag on China's Growth  2006/10/02  SB115974176916979405
China Lacks Pollution Enforcement  2006/3/17  SB114253166568000256
China Revamps Environmental Policy  2006/2/16  SB114002837179274902

China warns pollution will grow  2005/10/25  SB113018393331977864
Hidden Cost of Growth: Mercury Migration  2004/12/17  SB110325317062703084
Nationalism Has Role in China Biotechnology  2003/1/20  SB1043016127988088664

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Oil Jolt Is Fresh Hit to Economy; Stocks Get Slammed  6/07  SB121279421263753561
Dow Industrials Tumble Nearly 400 Points as Crude Futures Surge; Dollar Sinks  6/07  SB121279551612053643
Crude's nearly USD11 leap to USD138.54 -- the largest price jump ever -- is reinvigorating worries about the economy. The sudden jolt has left some OPEC officials complaining privately that the market had lost all logic, and is sure to add fire to accusations that the gush in prices is largely the work of market speculators. The Dow industrials plunged 394.64 points, signaling that Wall Street's broader economic worries are sinking in.  Infographic: Market Mayhem

If the first trading day (1/02) is any indication, 2008 could be a wild year for the markets.  Stocks fell sharply after a key manufacturing report was surprisingly weak, and oil prices touched USD100 a barrel, though there was only one Nymex trade at that price.  Gold prices traded at 28-year highs of more than USD860 per troy oz.  For the first week of 2008, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.2% and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 6.3%.


























紐約期油創每桶一百元歷史新高
紐約期金連創新高
ETFs Stoke Investors' Gold Fever
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Oil Hits USD100, Jolting Markets
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Crude, Gold Soar; Stocks Off Sharply On Economy Fears
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Confluence of Events Drove Crude's Ride From USD10.72
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Today's Market
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Oil and Gold Continue to Party 
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China Centralizes Oil-Reserves Planning 2007/12/19
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Beijing Plans Tax on Crude Output 12/19
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China Drafts Fuel-Relief Plan 12/04
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中国国家石油储备中心12/18正式成立

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Read more:

Environmental Capital drills into the business of the environment: how companies and investors are adapting to a shift in the energy landscape triggered by growing green concerns.  This new Wall Street Journal blog replaces the Energy Roundup blog.  Environmental Capital will continue Energy Roundup's tradition of tracking daily energy news.  And it will go further, analyzing how the energy world, and all of business, is adapting to mounting concern about the planet.  Your existing link to Energy Roundup will bring you automatically to Environmental Capital.

Energy Roundup: WSJ's look at energy news, this blog collects and analyzes the day's news in everything from oil to gas, from ethanol to wind power.  Sources include media from around the world.  This blog replaces the Oil News Roundup, a popular feature on the site that began in April 2006, when the price of oil was more than USD70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and well on its way to a July peak of more than USD77 a barrel.

More about METALS & MINING etc

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