The reactor-building spree would make China by far the world’s largest nuclear power generator, while the US strives to revive its own industry
China will nearly double its nuclear power capacity by 2040, making it by far the world’s largest nuclear power generator, according to a new report by the China Nuclear Energy Association (CNEA).
The country is set to build dozens of new reactors to raise its installed capacity to 200 gigawatts – more than double the US’ current capacity – by the end of the next decade, the Chinese industry body said in the paper released on Monday.
Beijing has embarked on one of the fastest buildouts of nuclear power facilities in history over recent years, as it strives to decarbonise the Chinese economy while also avoiding excessive dependence on weather-dependent green energy sources such as solar and wind.
Roughly half of the 61 nuclear reactors currently under construction worldwide are located in China, according to a Goldman Sachs report published last week.
China had 102 reactors either in use or under construction with a combined capacity of 113GW as of the end of 2024, which are clustered in the country’s economically prosperous coastal provinces, the CNEA report said.
The United States had 94 operational reactors with a total installed capacity of nearly 97GW as of 2024, according to US Energy Information Administration data.
France has the world’s third-largest nuclear power capacity, with 56 reactors in use, and several European countries have announced plans to construct more nuclear facilities. However, China’s plans dwarf Europe’s in terms of scale.
Based on the current pace of construction, China will leapfrog the US to become the world’s largest nuclear power generator in terms of installed capacity by 2030, according to the CNEA.
Nuclear power will account for about 10 per cent of China’s energy mix by the end of the 2030s, it added.
Each reactor is capable of generating about 10 billion kWh of electricity per year, enough to meet the annual demand of 1 million people.
In May, US President Donald Trump signed executive orders to accelerate the construction of additional nuclear capacity in the US, with a goal of raising the country’s installed capacity to 400GW by 2050.
Xing Ji, chief designer of the Hualong One, told state-run news agency Xinhua last week that the “higher safety standards” of China’s home-grown reactors meant that China still had the potential to further accelerate its nuclear power buildout if required.
“The Hualong One is less vulnerable to earthquakes than other third-generation reactors abroad and has more safety redundancies, meaning we can build more in more places,” Xing said.
So far, Beijing has only greenlit projects on the country’s coastline. But there have been growing calls from experts to lift the ban and build reactors in inland regions as well.
China currently burns more coal than any nation and remains the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases, accounting for more than a third of global emissions in 2023, according to United Nations data.
