Recently, according to ABC News, billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates shared his insights on nuclear energy and concerns over artificial intelligence. "Nuclear energy, if we do it right, will help us solve our climate goals," Gates told ABC News.
Actually in 2008, Gates had shown attention on nuclear energy when he was invited to the First China International Import Expo to give a speech and was interviewed by China Nuclear Industry Magazine. Below are the exclusive interview and the original speech content.
China Nuclear Industry Magazine Interview with Bill Gates: Embrace Nuclear Energy to Fight Global Climate Change
Q(Question): You are world famous as co-founder of Microsoft. In recent decades, people know more about your identification as the chairman of TerraPower. Last year, you were elected to Chinese Academy of Engineering for your endeavor in energy. What’s your opinion about the transformation of your two identities?
A(Answer): I’m very lucky that I get to work in many fascinating areas where I partner with brilliant people on ideas that could have a big impact. At Microsoft, we were passionate about writing great software that empowered people. I’m still involved with Microsoft today but am focusing full-time on my work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as well as TerraPower. What all this work has in common is the opportunity to help people solve pressing challenges. For example with TerraPower we are trying to help create affordable, reliable electricity for everyone. I believe it could be as transformative as software and vaccines have been.
Q: In many public occasions, you have said that nuclear is the cleanest and most efficient way to solve the energy problem. Also，you supported the idea with practical action. Nowadays, what do you think the role of nuclear energy played in contemporary energy development? What is your view on further potential of nuclear power?
A: In the latest IPCC report, the call to action was clear. We need to reduce carbon emissions to stop climate change. One key way to do that is to generate more power with clean sources like nuclear and renewables. That will require the private and public sectors to work together on developing and deploying these sources.
International cooperation is what has allowed nuclear energy to play such an important role over the past 60 years. It led to the use of medical isotopes in 10,000 hospitals worldwide. It aided 30 countries in developing more than 400 operational nuclear power reactors and 245 operational research reactors. Continued global progress on nuclear energy is important for fighting climate change and creating opportunities for growth and development.
Q: To push the nuclear technology to further development, what are the challenges you think we will meet? Meanwhile, in order to make nuclear industry to achieve a global development, what should we do to mitigate these problems?
A: Advancing nuclear technology is being deployed. New nuclear construction is underway in 17 countries including China, India and the UAE.
I’m optimistic that advanced technologies like TerraPower’s traveling wave reactor will help overcome some public concerns about nuclear power. Advanced computing and modern engineering tools have closed gaps that made it difficult for nuclear technology to achieve its full potential. Nuclear deployment will take place even faster as new designs reduce waste and simplify the fuel cycle.
How utilities choose to price the power they sell will also affect the future of nuclear energy in some parts of the world. In the U.S., it is a priority right now to preserve nuclear’s role in carbon free electricity generation. The cost of electricity in many markets does not reflect the externalized costs of air pollution and climate change.
The other great potential I see is in the ability for nuclear energy to reduce carbon in industrial processes. Residential and commercial electricity use is only about one third of our total energy use. Transportation and industrial processes represent the other two thirds of energy demand and emissions.
Q: You have attended the China international import expo and made a forum speech. Can you share your impression with us? This year in China, the third-generation nuclear technology AP1000 and EPR has been grid-connected, what’s your expectation on China’s nuclear industry?
A: The world needs to get to nearly zero greenhouse gas emissions, and I think nuclear power is going to play a crucial role in that effort. The most recent IPCC report noted that nuclear power must play a greater role if we’re going to avoid the worst effects of climate change. China’s fast-rising demand for clean energy makes it an attractive market for future new projects.
Bill Gates Speech: Remarks at First China International Import Expo
Thank you for inviting me to join you today. It is an honor to be here.
I am always happy to be back in China. It’s hard to imagine that my first visit was nearly 25 years ago. In that time, China has undergone a remarkable evolution. This expo is just one example of China’s role as a global leader. It showcases the new channels for international trade that China has opened.
China’s growth is one of the most astonishing examples of progress in world history. In 1990, 66 percent of people in this country lived in extreme poverty. Over the next 15 years, more than 500 million escaped extreme poverty. The extreme poverty rate in this country has fallen from 66 percent to less than 4 percent. India has followed a similar path, although it started later and progress there has been slower.
What has happened in China and India represents what I call the first two waves of poverty reduction. Now we want to create a third wave, in the rest of the world.
I believe China can be a catalyst for this third wave, for two reasons: its increasing role around the world, and its emerging capacity for innovation.
The Gates Foundation is proud to partner with China to unlock that potential so it benefits China and the rest of the world. In working toward this goal, we are helping China overcome domestic challenges such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, malnutrition, and poverty.
Meanwhile, we are also supporting China in becoming a stronger partner in global development by leveraging its expertise in innovation.
For example, later this week I’ll be in Beijing to help open the headquarters of the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute. This is a partnership between our foundation, the government of Beijing, and Tsinghua [ching-wah] University. It is unique in its focus on discovering and developing new drugs for health problems that disproportionately affect people in developing countries. I’m optimistic that the Institute will help us overcome one of the biggest obstacles in global health—the fact that there’s often no incentive to work on medicines that low-income people need, because they can’t afford to buy them. Every drug developed at the Institute will be available at an affordable price to those most in need.
Our foundation is also working with Chinese partners on some breakthrough tools that we hope will save lives. One device we’re developing with the company Motic is a microscope that uses artificial intelligence to detect malaria in a blood sample. Malaria is one of the hardest diseases to diagnose on a slide, but in field tests, a prototype of this microscope detected malaria as accurately as a human expert. If it proves out, it could help us accelerate the effort to eliminate and one day eradicate a disease that kills nearly 450,000 people a year.
We’re also working with the Chinese manufacturer Aucma on a device that could revolutionize the way we deliver vaccines. It’s called the Arktek, and it’s a special cooler that keeps vaccines at the right temperature for a month or more, using only ice—no electricity or battery needed. This makes it much easier to immunize children in places where there’s no reliable electricity. So far more than 2,000 Arkteks are in use around the world.
All of these projects—the drug institute, the microscope, and the cooler—are joint efforts between our foundation and partners here in China. Innovations like these are key to helping people in other countries make the kind of progress you’ve made here in China.
One other area where China is showing global leadership is in energy and mitigating climate change. Although the Gates Foundation doesn’t work in this area, I am investing in it personally. And—like China—I am making a big bet on nuclear power.
I believe nuclear power holds tremendous promise to meet the world’s clean-energy needs. But if it is going to scale quickly, we must address concerns about safety, cost, waste, and nuclear proliferation.
This is TerraPower’s mission.
TerraPower’s Traveling Wave Reactor deals with all four concerns. It relies on the laws of physics to maintain the safety of the plant without needing a human operator or complicated emergency cooling systems, backup generators, and batteries. It uses technology that is available today and has been proven out in countries like China, the United States, and France.
The reactor produces 30 times more energy for each ton of uranium mined, and it produces 80 percent less waste. Unlike other sources of electricity, it produces heat that can drive industrial processes that rely on fossil fuels today. Without enrichment and without reprocessing, the technology is proliferation resistant, which means the TWR can be safely exported.
As a founder of TerraPower, I set out to invest in new technology that can support the kind of economic development China and other countries want. TerraPower is working to bring nuclear energy to its full potential. We have sought partnerships to accelerate the innovation we need in the energy sector, develop new expertise, and lead to new products.
I remain committed to the deployment of this critical technology.
Whether it’s in energy, or health, or other areas, I hope that this kind of collaboration can provide a model for more international cooperation in the future. By combining talent and resources from China and the United States, we can build an atmosphere of innovation and develop products and approaches that improve lives in both countries and around the world.
This expo represents an important opportunity to affirm our work together. I wish you a successful event and encourage everyone here to continue creating innovative solutions that will save lives, stop climate change, and reduce poverty.
