China Sells Nuclear Power

China's going to IPO China General Nuclear Power, the largest nuclear energy firm in China.

Promethean Perils

And it is not just that China may—and should—be starting to pay attention to the true cost of infrastructure projects. Rapid technological advances are also making low-carbon alternatives to nuclear power appear more attractive. Bloomberg New Energy Finance, an industry publisher, forecasts that onshore wind will be the cheapest way to make electricity in the country by 2030. Though coal will remain China’s leading fuel for some time, Bloomberg’s analysts think that renewables could produce three times as much power as nuclear in the country by that year.

Look at this Comparison of Wind and Nuclear. Germany's economy is being destroyed by high energy costs caused by a renewables push, as is Spain's and California's, and these are economies that are not growing rapidly to begin with. China needs a lot of power. Their need is power, not clean energy. Even if there was absolutely zero concern about emissions, they'd have to go nuclear, there's no other way to produce the power they will need if they want to keep growing.

Here's a far more plausible reason to be skeptical:

What is more, as a latecomer, China had the chance to standardise designs of new nuclear plants to gain economies of scale and minimise risk. But rather than build copies of safe and proven designs from Westinghouse of America or Areva of France, it is insisting on “indigenisation”. This approach is in line with China’s desire to create national champions in key industries, as it has in high-speed rail....Philippe Jamet, a French nuclear safety commissioner, told his country’s parliament earlier this year that Chinese counterparts were “overwhelmed”.

If China has more wind in 2030 than nuclear, it won't be because it's cheaper or better, but because they screwed up with nuclear. Windmills are a sign of failure, not progress.