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Bill Gates(Billionaire philanthropist
) 's company helped found is cooperating on the development
of a new type of nuclear reactor on Wednesday in China.
"TerraPower is working on what we call Generation-4 nuclear
energy. And the idea is to be very low-cost, very safe and generate
very little waste," Gates said at a news conference after
he discussed cooperation with Ministry of Science and Technology
officials in Beijing on Wednesday.
Bill Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Fundation.
"It is in an early stage," Gates said.
TerraPower, co-founded by Gates several years ago, is working
on the idea of new technologies with the China National Nuclear
Corporation (CNNC), though Gates said adoption of the technology
will not happen quickly.
Under discussion is a traveling-wave reactor, or TWR, a new
type of reactor that could reduce the need for the enrichment
and reprocessing of uranium.
If successful, TWRs would be smaller, cleaner nuclear reactors
that would create less nuclear waste and could be used for
years without refueling.
Aware of the long-term risks of storing radioactive waste
and of nuclear fuel being diverted to build weapons, scientists
since the 1940s have tried to develop methods to recycle the
waste by using it as fuel.
TWRs are believed to be a possible solution - but only conceptually
- because they have not been built or tested successfully,
according to Xu Mi, chief expert of CNNC.
Moreover, Gates said the development of the new reactor design
may require investment of hundreds of millions of dollars
in the coming years, and demonstration plans and construction
would cost "billions".
He also promised the new designs would be "totally safe"
in all circumstances, "including earthquakes".
Qian Jihui, professor of nuclear and new energy technology
at Tsinghua University, said even though there are a lot of
discussions about the new reactor, it is not expected to be
available soon for commercial use.
"There is not a unified definition for a 4G reactor,"
Qian said. "In my opinion, it mainly refers to the absolute
safety of the reactor, which will never cause any disaster
or accidents during operation."
He said China is preparing to build the first demonstration
projects of a 4G reactor with a capacity of 200,000 kilowatts.
However, he said it is too early to expect that the 4G reactor
can be used in China since the country has not lifted the
suspension of new nuclear power projects, a ban imposed after
leaks from a Japanese nuclear plant in March.
The Ministry of Science and Technology said it is glad to
join hands with Gates.
"When we cooperate with Gates, what we value so much
is not Gates' money, but his social influence, his rallying
power and his innovation ability," said Zhang Laiwu,
vice-minister of science and technology.
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