Jeff J. Brown writes for Sputnik News about China’s floating nuclear power plants. Original Q&A added. China Rising Radio Sinoland 240506

TRANSLATION MENU: LOOK UPPER RIGHT BELOW THE SOCIAL MEDIA ICONS.

IT OFFERS EVERY LANGUAGE AVAILABLE AROUND THE WORLD!

ALSO, SOCIAL MEDIA AND PRINT ICONS ARE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST!

Pictured above: 


Sixteen years on the streets, living and working with the people of China, Jeff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For donations, print books, ebooks and audiobooks, please see at the bottom of this post.

Text only.

Original Sputnik News article,

China’s Floating NPPs Plans in S China Sea: Focus on Energy, Not Warfare (sputnikglobe.com)

Original Q&A with Sputnik News after the article below.

Article

China’s Floating Nuclear Plants in South China Sea: Focus on Energy, Not Warfare

While US officials claim Beijing’s plans to deploy floating nuclear power plants in the South China Sea could endanger US national security and regional stability, experts interviewed by Sputnik appeared skeptical about the threat allegedly posed by China’s initiative.
US military and State Department officials have sounded the alarm over China’s intent to develop floating nuclear power plants that could be deployed in the South China Sea.
“Our concern is that the closer they get to deploying floating nuclear power plants, the faster they’ll use them for purposes contrary to the national security of the United States and broader security in the region,” an unnamed US State Department official told the Washington Post.
Ret. Adm. John Aquilino, former head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, also warned that “China’s intended use of floating nuclear power plants has potential impacts to all nations in the region,” alleging the plants could allow Beijing to further exert its territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Such floating stations may indeed be used to supply power to Chinese military and civilian facilities alike, noted Carl Thayer, emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales Canberra at the Australian Defense Force Academy.
Thayer claimed Western powers’ real concern in this matter is the fact that these power plants would serve as “an assertion of China’s sovereignty” as they would enable Beijing to lower the costs of maintaining its bases on South China Sea islands.
China may also use such mobile nuclear power plants for disaster relief, providing power to areas where infrastructure is devastated by calamities such as typhoons, tsunamis or floods, argued Jeff Brown, author of The China Trilogy and editor at China Rising Radio Sinoland.

“In a country the size of China with 1.4 billion citizens, prone to natural disasters and faraway projects in the western half of the country, the possibilities are endless,” he remarked.

Brown also speculated these nuclear plants’ mobility would make them a potent asset for the Chinese military as well.

“China has built numerous sophisticated military installations across the South China Sea. A hard-wired nuclear power plant could be hit by NATO missiles, but a floating/mobile one around and on the islands would be much more evasive and harder to target,” Brown explained.

Finally, military expert and Russian Navy Captain First Rank Igor Kurdin said China might outfit such plants with various defensive measures – most likely air defense systems and counter-sabotage defenses – to ensure the safety of these facilities.
Kurdin did note, however, that the only operational floating nuclear power plant in the world, Russia’s Alademik Lomonosov, is not equipped with any armaments and that such facilities are not designed for warfare.
Though the concept of a floating nuclear power plant was investigated by the United States during the second half of the 20th century Washington ultimately gave up on the concept in the 1970s, only to resume investigation of the idea in 2022.
As of 2024 Russia remains the undisputed leader in this field, with the world’s only operational floating nuclear power plant Akademik Lomonosov helping generate electricity in the Chukotka Region.
The fact that such plants might present an elegant solution for meeting the energy needs of remote island installations apparently did not elude China.
Though the development and construction, not to mention the operation, of such mobile nuclear plants is no easy task, it does not seem like an unattainable objective for a world power of China’s caliber.
Original Q&A with Sputnik News

1) What civilian possibilities would floating nuclear power plants provide to a maritime country with such as China? How hard would it be to sustain such an infrastructure for China at its current level of industrial and nuclear capabilities?

China can use floating nuclear power plants for disaster zones, such as typhoons, tsunamis and floods. Inland, for earthquakes, fires, etc., “floating” becomes “mobile”. Inland, they can be used for isolated infrastructure projects. In a country the size of China, with 1.4 billion citizens, prone to natural disasters and faraway projects in the western half of the country, the possibilities are endless.

The other great advantage in China is that the electric grid is 100% people owned via the state-owned enterprise China Grid. Beijing can skip all the negotiations that Western private utilities would be pushing, for maximum profit. “We need as floating/mobile nuclear power plant here now!” Not a problem in China.

 2) How easily these possibilities can be converted into military applications such as powering of installations and equipment? How dramatically would such infrastructure enhance a force-projecting capability of a country like China? 

Just as the civilian possibilities are endless in the civilian sector, the same goes for military use. China has built numerous, sophisticated military installations across the South China Sea. A hard-wired nuclear power plant could be hit by NATO missiles, but a floating/mobile one around and on the islands would be much more evasive and harder to target. Further out, if Taiwan is pushed by Washington to declare independence, the Mainland would invade the island in a matter of hours. Floating nuclear power plants could be used by the PLA Navy to power coastal installation as the assault progresses.

 3) How large of an open-sea territory can you control and monitor with one such power plant?

It all depends on connectivity. A floating/mobile nuclear power plant is worthless, if it is not connected to an electrical grid of some sort. The floating variety can go inland, but how to link it to light up the grid? Mobile versions are more versatile, as they could be moved to existing power generation plants to plug in there.

 4) China will be the second country to deploy a floating nuclear power plant after Russia. In terms of maritime force-projecting capability, how big of a challenge does this infrastructure create for the US Pacific fleet?

Russia/USSR already had a technological lead in mobile nuclear power plants, with a sophisticated submarine fleet that spanned the globe during the Cold War. Today, Russia is at the cutting edge for nuclear powered icebreakers in the Arctic, which are essentially “floating” power plants. The fact that Russia and China are conducting frequent naval exercises together in the Pacific and cooperating to put a nuclear power plant on the Moon suggests that this collaboration is broad-based. Technologically, they complement each other well in this domain.

NATO will have a hard time keeping up with the two leading nuclear energy countries working hand in hand to use floating/mobile power plants for both civilian and military uses, on Earth and in outer space.

###

IMPORTANT NOTICE: techofascism is already here! I’ve been de-platformed by StumbleUpon (now Mix) and Reddit. I am being heavily censored by Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud and YouTube. It’s only a matter of time before they de-platform me too. Please start using Brighteon for my videos, then connect with me via other social media listed below, especially VK, Telegram, Signal, Parler, Gettr, Gab and WeChat, which are not part of the West’s Big Lie Propaganda Machine (BLPM).

I will post EVERYTHING I produce on my Twitter and Telegram channels, including useful news and information you may not come across, so subscribe for FREE, for the most frequent updates,

Daily news: https://twitter.com/44_Days

Daily news: https://t.me/jeffjbrown

I also write shorter pieces on Seek Truth From Facts,

https://seektruthfromfacts.org/category/cwg/

And edit STFF’s Guest Submissions,

https://seektruthfromfacts.org/guess-submissions/

 

Also, sign up for my FREE email newsletter…

Support, donations and contributions for my work here, any amount, one time or monthly,

A to Z support. Thank you in advance, Jeff

Alipay and WeChat: Chinese phone number: +86-19806711824

Checks or cash: mail to: Jeff J. Brown, 75 rue Surcouf, Cherbourg 14117, France

Donorbox: www.donorbox.com, find China Rising Radio Sinoland

Euro bank wires: 44 Days Publishing, Bank: TransferWise, IBAN: BE70 9672 2959 5225

FundRazr: https://fundrazr.com/CRRS_2021_fundraiser?ref=ab_78aX23

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/China_Rising_Radio_Sinoland or https://www.patreon.com/China_Tech_News_Flash

Payoneer: www.payoneer.com, Jeffrey Jennings Brown, Account Number: 4023795169624

Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/ChinaRisingRadioSino

Stripe US$/ApplePay: https://buy.stripe.com/14k8zl5tp5mVeT66op

Stripe Euros/ApplePay: https://buy.stripe.com/fZe02P8FB9DbcKY28a

US bank wires: Jeff J. Brown, Bank of Oklahoma, Routing Number/ABA: 103900036, Account: 309163695

 

Do yourself, your friends, family and colleagues a favor, to make sure all of you are Sino-smart: 

Google ebooks (Epub) and audiobooks:

44 Days Backpacking in China: The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=YBKHEAAAQBAJ

https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAECCkQXRlM

China Rising: Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=YNmLEAAAQBAJ

https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAECCfHo86M

BIG Red Book on China: Chinese History, Culture and Revolution

https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=6Wl4EAAAQBAJ

https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAECCfHo86M

Amazon print and ebooks (Kindle):

44 Days Backpacking in China: The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1484939999/

China Rising: Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations

https://www.amazon.com/China-Rising-Capitalist-Socialist-Destinations/dp/0996487042

BIG Red Book on China: Chinese History, Culture and Revolution

https://www.amazon.com/BIG-Red-Book-China/dp/1673322719/

Author page:

https://www.amazon.com/Mr.-Jeff-J.-Brown/e/B00TX0TDDI

Praise for The China Trilogy:

https://chinarising.puntopress.com/2018/06/30/praise-for-the-china-trilogy-the-votes-are-in-it-r-o-c-k-s-what-are-you-waiting-for/

 

Why and How China works: With a Mirror to Our Own History


ABOUT JEFF BROWN

jeffBusyatDesktop

JEFF J. BROWN, Editor, China Rising, and Senior Editor & China Correspondent, Dispatch from Beijing, The Greanville Post

Jeff J. Brown is a geopolitical analyst, journalist, lecturer and the author of The China Trilogy. It consists of 44 Days Backpacking in China – The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass (2013); Punto Press released China Rising – Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations (2016); and BIG Red Book on China (2020). As well, he published a textbook, Doctor WriteRead’s Treasure Trove to Great English (2015). Jeff is a Senior Editor & China Correspondent for The Greanville Post, where he keeps a column, Dispatch from Beijing and is a Global Opinion Leader at 21st Century. He also writes a column for The Saker, called the Moscow-Beijing Express. Jeff writes, interviews and podcasts on his own program, China Rising Radio Sinoland, which is also available on YouTubeStitcher Radio, iTunes, Ivoox and RUvid. Guests have included Ramsey Clark, James Bradley, Moti Nissani, Godfree Roberts, Hiroyuki Hamada, The Saker and many others. [/su_spoiler]

Jeff can be reached at China Rising, je**@br***********.com, Facebook, Twitter, Wechat (+86-19806711824/Mr_Professor_Brown, and Line/Signal/Telegram/Whatsapp: +33-612458821.

Read it in your language • Lealo en su idioma • Lisez-le dans votre langue • Lies es in deniner Sprache • Прочитайте это на вашем языке • 用你的语言阅读

[google-translator]

 

Wechat group: search the phone number +8619806711824 or my ID, Mr_Professor_Brown, friend request and ask Jeff to join the China Rising Radio Sinoland Wechat group. He will add you as a member, so you can join in the ongoing discussion.