(I’ve got a longer response to the part of your comment comparing the rate of development of nuclear energy in different countries, so I’m posting it as its own comment. I’ll respond to the other points you’ve made in a separate comment.)
Some are even plant closures (mostly US, Canada, Germany), but China has a ton of new plants. Other countries with new plants and planned plants include Finland, Egypt, France, Poland, Russia, Turkey, even the US!
The primary motivation for plant closures I’m aware of are concerns about health, safety, pollution and potential catastrophe. That’s the case in North America after the meltdown on Three Mile Island and also Japan after the Fukashima Daiyichi reactor meltdown. A difference with Germany is that Germany has had an exceptionally strong Green movement, as a social and political movement. That’s resulted in Germany shutting down more nuclear power plants down over environmental concerns but also a greater proportionate development of renewable energy compared to many other Western countries.
One pattern is that the countries where nuclear power plants tend to either be shut down at greater rates or built at lower rates is that they are liberal democracies. It’s easy to presume that because liberal-democratic governments are more subject to the pressure(s) of public opinion, (relatively more) authoritarian governments face fewer political hurdles to building nuclear power plants. Yet as the country that has built the most nuclear power plants the fastest in China, I would expect the greater factor is not necessarily that it’s an authoritarian but a more technocratic government that’s able to overcome more easily what would otherwise be political barriers.
Egypt, Russia, Turkey and Poland are all countries that are rated as having become more authoritarian over the last several years. Yet the development of nuclear power plants takes as many if not even more years, so the increasing rate of development of nuclear energy in those countries could easily precede their more authoritarian political pivots. All of those other countries are neither building nuclear power plants as fast as China is nor are their governments particularly technocratic.
Like yourself, I’ve not studied this subject as closely but either that Wikipedia article or other, related sources may make clearer which of these hypotheses do or don’t bear out. Thank you for sharing that useful resource. Depending on the other feedback I get and whether I find the time later, I may author an article for the EA Forum evaluating that data and these hypotheses. Please let me know any other hypotheses you might have and I would assess those as well.
(I’ve got a longer response to the part of your comment comparing the rate of development of nuclear energy in different countries, so I’m posting it as its own comment. I’ll respond to the other points you’ve made in a separate comment.)
The primary motivation for plant closures I’m aware of are concerns about health, safety, pollution and potential catastrophe. That’s the case in North America after the meltdown on Three Mile Island and also Japan after the Fukashima Daiyichi reactor meltdown. A difference with Germany is that Germany has had an exceptionally strong Green movement, as a social and political movement. That’s resulted in Germany shutting down more nuclear power plants down over environmental concerns but also a greater proportionate development of renewable energy compared to many other Western countries.
One pattern is that the countries where nuclear power plants tend to either be shut down at greater rates or built at lower rates is that they are liberal democracies. It’s easy to presume that because liberal-democratic governments are more subject to the pressure(s) of public opinion, (relatively more) authoritarian governments face fewer political hurdles to building nuclear power plants. Yet as the country that has built the most nuclear power plants the fastest in China, I would expect the greater factor is not necessarily that it’s an authoritarian but a more technocratic government that’s able to overcome more easily what would otherwise be political barriers.
Egypt, Russia, Turkey and Poland are all countries that are rated as having become more authoritarian over the last several years. Yet the development of nuclear power plants takes as many if not even more years, so the increasing rate of development of nuclear energy in those countries could easily precede their more authoritarian political pivots. All of those other countries are neither building nuclear power plants as fast as China is nor are their governments particularly technocratic.
Like yourself, I’ve not studied this subject as closely but either that Wikipedia article or other, related sources may make clearer which of these hypotheses do or don’t bear out. Thank you for sharing that useful resource. Depending on the other feedback I get and whether I find the time later, I may author an article for the EA Forum evaluating that data and these hypotheses. Please let me know any other hypotheses you might have and I would assess those as well.