When meeting in Beijing on November 3 with Microsoft co-founder and TerraPower chairman Bill Gates, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang called for closer cooperation between his country and the United States in the development of next generation nuclear power technology.
While praising the China-United States partnership in this field, Li said the companies of the two countries have established a joint investment company each with half of the shares and under the agreement to share intellectual property rights.
TerraPower, LLC signed a joint venture agreement with China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) to form the company Global Innovation Nuclear Energy Technology Co. Ltd. The two companies plan to collaborate to complete the design of the Traveling Wave Reactor (TWR) to and commercialize technology.
“This is a pioneering work in China-US high-tech cooperation, which is done on a voluntary basis, which shows the open attitudes of both sides,” Li said. The prime minister expects win-win results in this cooperation.
China hopes to combine its advantage in talent resources with advanced technologies from overseas and make good use of the internet platform to promote the technological progress that the world can share and from which it can benefit, Li said.
Recognizing the importance of next-generation nuclear power in the future development of energy technology, Gates said it is important to ensure that the supply of energy is clean, safe and reliable.
Gates said his company appreciates cooperation with its Chinese counterpart, values China’s rich talent pool and will adopt an open attitude to translate its vision of shared cooperation into reality.
