China has announced that it’ll be bringing a nuclear power plant online in 2017 that’s immune to meltdown. Consisting of next-generation, twin 105-megawatt reactors, the plant doesn’t rely on complex, external systems to regulate its temperature – such as the kind that failed at Fukushima – and, in theory, it shouldn’t ever overheat. While the technology behind the reactor originated in Germany decades ago, this is the first time the design will be built on a commercial scale anywhere in the world, and it’s a pretty big deal. If China pulls this off, it’ll take away one of the biggest concerns about nuclear power, and suggests that the technology could be used to safely provide energy, with far less greenhouse gas emissions than fossil fuels.
Science Alert 15th Feb 2016 read more »