Could ‘swimming pool’ nuclear reactors help clear China’s winter smog?
Nuclear option could cut dependence on coal-powered heating in pollution-plagued northern cities, supporters say
China could flick the switch from fossil-fuel boilers to “swimming pool” nuclear reactors if an idea to help clear the country’s smog-choked northern winter skies gets the green light.
Wang Naiyan, honorary chairman of the China Nuclear Society and a lead scientist at the China Institute of Atomic Energy, said top state leaders had responded positively to the plan to replace coal and natural gas heating plants in northern China with the reactors – small, simple nuclear heating plants with “zero meltdown risk”.
Each winter, China chokes from the half a billion tonnes of coal it uses for heating – enough to power Britain for nearly three decades.
Cutting that pollution is now a central government priority and one that proponents of the reactors say the technology can help realise.
But industry specialists warn that the biggest challenge would be getting public support for the swimming pool reactors, which are in theory safe enough to swim in.
“We nuclear scientists may think it is absolutely safe, but most people may still refuse to have a reactor on their doorstep,” said Zhang Jige, associate professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s school of nuclear science and technology.