The Chinese River Dolphin is gone, extinct.
China, the country which experienced the world's largest energy disaster, the collapse of the Banqiao dams in 1975 - Wikipedia gives a death toll of 145,000 people, but that is almost certainly a low estimate - now has the Three Gorges Dam - that finished the dolphin - done. It's a fait accompli.
One of the world's other most threatened rivers also originates in China. It is the Mekong, and veterans of the Vietnam war and fans of Francis Ford Coppola's uncredited Joseph Contrad rip-off, Apocalypse Now will recognize this river. It is home to several giant species of animals, including a catfish bigger than a man.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, Mekong dams threaten rare giant fish.
Wild populations of the iconic Mekong giant catfish will be driven to extinction if hydropower dams planned for the Mekong River go ahead, says a new report by WWF.
The report, River of Giants: Giant Fish of the Mekong, profiles four giant fish living in the Mekong that rank within the top 10 largest freshwater fish on the planet (see list of top 10 at bottom of page).
At half the length of a bus and weighing up to 600kgs, the Mekong River’s giant freshwater stingray (Dasyatis laosensis) is the world’s largest freshwater fish. The critically endangered and culturally fabled Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas) ranks third at up to 3 metres in length and 350kgs.
Dam will present unsurmountable barrier for giant fish
"A fish the size of a Mekong giant catfish, simply will not be able to swim across a large barrier like a dam to reach its spawning grounds upstream," said Roger Mollot, Freshwater Biologist for WWF-Laos. "This would lead to the collapse of the wild population of this iconic species."
You may read more detail about the fish about to be destroyed in
River of Giants: Giant Fish of the Mekong.
I'm just a bundle of joy, aren't I?
Vietnam's population - most of the new dams are above the Vietnamese border and are therefore out of Vietnam's reach - is as of 2009 roughly 89 million. According to the figures of the Energy Information Agency Vietnam's total electricity generation was about 59.3 billion kilowatt-hours, which translates to an average continuous power consumption per capita of electricity in Vietnam for all purposes of about 18.5 watts, as compared to the average continuous American per capita is about 430 watts of just electricity.
In other news, Vietnam has announced its intention to have the Russians build 13 nuclear reactors there.
Before the end of October Russia will sign to build a nuclear power plant in Vietnam, provide the fuel and take it back for reprocessing.
The countries intend to "accelerate work" towards the signing, said Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung after a meeting with Rosatom's Sergei Kiriyenko.
Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet and minister of trade Vu Huy Huang were also present.
Nearly all the key points of the necessary intergovernmental agreement are in place, Kiriyenko said, noting that Russia is to guarantee a loan for the construction. A delegation from Vietnam's Ministry of Finance is set to visit Moscow in mid-September and Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin is expected to visit Hanoi in October to sign off the final deal...
Beyond uranium, Vietnam has a three-phase plan to introduce nuclear power on a large scale. Up to 2015, it will approve investment and locations, select contractors and train managers and technicians.
In the second phase to 2020, the country will finalize construction and put into operation the first 1000 MWe reactor at Phuoc Dinh in the southern Ninh Thuan province.
And by 2030, Vietnam wants to construct a further 13 power reactors. A second 1000 MWe unit at the Phuoc Dinh site will begin operating in 2012. Two further 1000 MWe units are planned there, with operation scheduled for 2023 and 2024 respectively. Four 1000 MWe reactors are also planned for Vinh Hai in the Ninh Hai district. The first two are slated to begin operating in 2021 and 2022, with the second pair starting up in 2024 and 2025.
The thirteen reactors to be completed in the next twenty years will have a name plate power rating of 13,000 MWe. If the reactors operate - as is typical for modern well run reactors at 90% of capacity utilization - they will produce approximately 130 watts of power for 90 million Vietnamese, not that Vietnam's population is likely to stabilize.
Have a nice day.