China's nuclear power in the context of decarbonization of the global energy industry

Abstract

The global structure of energy resource consumption is analyzed. It is shown that the total consumption of energy resources in the 20th century increased almost 15 times and amounted to about 118 PWh in 2000. Of these, more than 80% were fossil (natural) energy carriers, 13 % were renewable energy sources and more than 6 % were nuclear power. This trend has continued for many years. Renewable energy sources and nuclear power are projected to dominate the growth of global energy consumption, meeting on average more than 90 % of the additional demand. China ranks first in the world in terms of GDP and the rate of development of the electric power complex, as well as in terms of production volume and the rate of development of nuclear power. The structure of electricity generation by fuel type in countries (TOP 5, 2021) with high energy consumption has been analyzed. It is shown that the main players in this market are three countries: China (30 %), USA (13 %) and India (6 %). The volume of electricity production in China is almost three times larger than in the EU countries and almost 7 times larger than in Russia. The structure of nuclear energy and China's achievements in this field are considered. It is shown that in the context of nuclear technologies (creation of fourth-generation reactors, development of technologies close to the full closed cycle of nuclear waste processing) China is already ready to significantly expand the scope of nuclear energy. Special attention is paid to the safety of nuclear facilities operations. The main problem China will face is the absence of an insurmountable barrier between civilian and military use of such technologies. This poses a serious threat to the ecology and life safety of the country. In the long term, nuclear power must also solve the problem of safe, long-term disposal of radioactive waste. It is shown that in the future China needs to re-examine its nuclear program in the context of cooperation with International Nuclear Security Organizations.