Francois Morin on environmental policy
From Is China the Future of Nuclear Energy? feat. Francois Morin · · DecoupleMedia
“The peak in urban pollution and the subsequent decrease has nothing to do with nuclear power; the fight against pollution was done earlier by the closure and displacement of many factories like steel and cement away from big cities.”
On , Francois Morin, Executive VP, CFO & Treasurer at Arch Capital Group Ltd, spoke about environmental policy during Is China the Future of Nuclear Energy? feat. Francois Morin on DecoupleMedia.
About Francois Morin
In a March 2021 appearance on the Decouple podcast, Francois Morin, then China director of the World Nuclear Association, discussed China's nuclear energy development. Morin stated that he anticipated China would become the world's largest nuclear electricity producer by 2030, surpassing the United States, and could reach 200 gigawatts by 2040. He attributed China's nuclear growth partly to low-interest loans from banks, saying "the interest rate is what makes or doesn't make nuclear expensive." Morin noted that China had imported technology in the 1990s but now produces about 88 percent of the Hualong reactor locally. Morin said that air pollution was not a primary driver of China's nuclear expansion, stating that "the peak in urban pollution and the subsequent decrease has nothing to do with nuclear power." He described local protests against nuclear projects, noting that some street protests led to cancellations, though he expressed doubt about the sincerity of some demonstrations. Morin also discussed the economics of wind and solar, saying that transporting renewable energy from Inner Mongolia to the eastern coast could make the solar kilowatt-hour twice the price of local nuclear power. He mentioned that China was building small modular reactors, including a CNNC SCP-100 on Hainan, but said evaluating their economic efficiency was difficult.