Powering ahead: China shows the way in nuclear techology

China is on track to become the world's biggest nuclear power by 2030, the year it has set as a deadline to bring the most advanced reactor ever developed to market.

Using clean energy to rid cities of the pollution caused by coal-fired plants is one driving force, but so, too, is the country's ambition to become the leading global exporter of nuclear technology.

Deals signed in recent weeks with Argentina, Britain, Romania and South Africa put that aspiration firmly into perspective. It is an aim that benefits the nation and its nuclear industry, but also helps countries meet their climate change obligations.

The 12-day UN climate change negotiations starting at the end of the month in Paris aim to put in place legally binding targets to cut the polluting emissions that are causing temperatures to rise. China, as the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide and having cities with the worst air quality, has a key role to play.

A significant part of its strategy to meet its goals lies in nuclear power; under proposals laid out in the 13th five-year plan, it intends to add to the 27 operational reactors and another 24 under construction by building about seven more each year to 2030, by far the most ambitious programme in the world.