China has embraced an ambitious nuclear energy program to satisfy its thirst for energy while cutting down on the local air pollution and greenhouse gases emitted by its traditional coal-fired plants. Investors, betting on increased Chinese nuclear demand, bid up the price of uranium 12-fold between 2001 and mid-2007.

Now the reality is beginning to sink in: China’s nuclear industry will go through a slow build, constrained by high capital costs and a lack of skilled technicians. By 2030, China may have the world’s biggest installed based of nuclear plants, be the world’s biggest uranium consumer and may even be a leader in low-cost nuclear generation technology. But most of the growth will not come until the 2020s.