China and Russia are building nuclear reactors together, and Europe is in a state of despair

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian envoy Vladimir Putin on Wednesday took part in a video call in which the two countries signed an agreement to build four new nuclear reactors in China. Both world leaders see the implementation of nuclear energy as a necessary step to make their countries’ climate neutral. Meanwhile, the development of nuclear programs in Europe has stalled for decades.

China and Russia agreed in 2018 to work more closely together to expand nuclear power within their borders. This was reaffirmed on Wednesday during a virtual meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. On the agenda: Building more nuclear reactors.

The first project in view is about four new projects Nuclear reactors It will be placed at power plants in Tiananmen and Sudapo. These power stations are located in the East Korean province of Jiangsu and the northeastern province of Liaoning, respectively, bordering North Korea.

30 million tons less CO2 emissions

It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. What we do know is that the two powers have set aside at least $ 2.9 billion to build a nuclear deal between China and Russia.

The combination of four new nuclear reactors could provide China with about 37.6 billion kilowatt hours annually, according to Chinese state-run media CCTV. With that flow, China will definitely be there every year 30.68 million tons less CO2 May emit.

Putin sleeve laughs

With this latest investment, China is continuing its nuclear success story neatly. By the end of March, the country was already able to show good statistics Hualang Core Project. Through that project, China succeeded in introducing a new generation of pressurized water reactors in the country. With the Holong nuclear reactors, China hopes to maintain climate neutrality by 2060.

Meanwhile, no new nuclear program has been launched in Europe for decades. Chinese scientists have strong doubts about whether it is possible to fully convert to wind and solar power without the use of nuclear energy. Opinions on this are even more strongly divided in Europe.

Putin probably laughs in the meantime. He called this recent cooperation with China “the culmination” Russo-Chinese relations‘.

(evb)