Nuclear experts head to China to test experimental reactors

With scientists from Western nations finding it difficult to raise enough money to build experimental plants at home, China is becoming the testing ground for a new breed of nuclear power stations designed to be safer and cheaper.

China National Nuclear Power Co. this month announced a joint venture to build and operate a "traveling wave reactor" in Hebei province, designed by Bellevue, Washington-based TerraPower LLC, whose chairman is Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates. The development follows Canada's SNC-Lavalin, which has agreed to build a new recycled-fuel plant with China National Nuclear Corp. and Shanghai Electric Group, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is working with the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics on a salt-cooled system.

"China is where is the demand exists and where willing partners exist for this kind of plant," said TerraPower President Chris Levesque, whose company has been working on the traveling-wave technology for a decade. "It is really encouraging when your partners are announcing a site."