【Text by Observer News, Liu Bai】
Global nuclear energy development has entered a "fast track," and China, relying on its outstanding technological innovation capabilities and efficient industrial system, has transformed from a technology follower to a leader.
The New York Times in the United States noted on October 22 that, against the backdrop of the global revival of nuclear energy, China has successfully achieved efficient and large-scale development in the nuclear energy field through centralized and unified industrial planning and continuous efforts on key technologies, quickly becoming a global industry leader.
The article expressed amazement, stating that although many of China's reactors have drawn on foreign development experience, China has successfully overcome issues such as construction delays and cost overruns, something Western countries have never achieved. Meanwhile, the United States is facing numerous challenges in trying to revive nuclear energy, including policy, regulation, and innovation.
"China is acting very quickly"
The article wrote that in 2013, the United States began building the first two nuclear reactors in a generation, signaling the return of the atomic age. However, plagued by construction delays, they have become the most expensive two reactors ever built in history. Nuclear energy seems to have a bleak future, at least in the United States.
According to data from the National Nuclear Safety Administration of China, as of September 2025, there are 59 nuclear power units with operation permits, 34 nuclear power units with construction permits, and 19 nuclear power units under approval for construction in mainland China. There are 17 civilian research reactors (critical devices) in operation, 2 civilian research reactors under construction, and 2 civilian research reactors (critical devices) in the process of decommissioning. The operating nuclear power units and the in-service research reactors have maintained good safety performance.
The article pointed out that China is rapidly becoming a leading force in the global nuclear energy industry, with the number of reactors under construction almost equivalent to the total of other countries. By 2030, China's nuclear power capacity is expected to exceed that of the United States. The United States was the first country to use atomic fission for electricity generation, but nuclear power plant construction has been stagnant for decades.
On September 6, 2025, a large crane lifted the top dome of the fourth unit's containment vessel at the Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant in Shandong. IC Photo
The author believes that although some of China's reactors reference designs from the United States and France, China has successfully overcome issues such as construction delays and cost overruns, which have repeatedly hindered Western countries' attempts to expand nuclear energy.
At the same time, China has made breakthroughs in next-generation nuclear technologies where the West has struggled to make progress. China is also heavily investing in nuclear fusion, which could become an unlimited clean energy source if the controllability issue can be solved.
China is striving to become a major supplier of global nuclear energy technology and aims to join the ranks of a few countries such as the United States, Russia, France, and South Korea that can design and export top-tier nuclear energy technology.
"The Chinese are acting very, very quickly," said Mark Hibbs, a senior researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, who has written a book on China's nuclear energy projects. "They have shown the world their strong nuclear power capabilities."
The author believes that the competition between China and the United States has spread to the energy sector. Especially under the leadership of President Trump, the United States has prepared to become the leading supplier of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal.
In contrast, China dominates in photovoltaic panels, batteries, and new energy vehicle manufacturing, viewing clean energy as a future market worth trillions of dollars.
However, the competition for leadership in the nuclear energy field remains undecided.
Global interest in nuclear energy is reviving, especially against the backdrop of increasing concerns about climate change. This is because nuclear reactors do not emit greenhouse gases that cause global warming, unlike coal and natural gas power plants, and they can generate electricity around the clock, unlike wind and solar energy.
The Trump administration tried to double the U.S. nuclear power capacity before 2050 and develop a new generation of reactor technology, aiming to meet domestic data center power needs while exporting technology to energy-deficient countries abroad.
Nuclear energy is widely regarded as a strategic asset. Exporting reactors will establish deep networks of cooperation around power plant construction, nuclear safety, and fuel management.
Therefore, some U.S. officials speculate that if China dominates the nuclear energy export market, its global influence will increase, as the overseas construction of nuclear power plants will create long-term, deep relationships between countries.
The article points out that China already has a clear advantage in the nuclear energy race: China has mastered the technology to quickly and cheaply build reactors. It now takes China five to six years to build a reactor, twice as fast as Western countries.
On September 23, a model of a controlled nuclear fusion reactor was photographed at the Shanghai Industrial Expo. IC Photo
According to recent data published in the journal Nature, nuclear power costs in the United States surged after the 1960s, while China's nuclear power costs fell by half in the first decade of the 21st century and have stabilized. In contrast, the United States has only built two reactors at Vogtle in Waynesboro, Georgia, taking a total of 11 years and costing $35 billion.
"When I first saw these data showing a declining trend in China's nuclear power costs, I was very surprised," said Liu Shangwei, the first author of the paper and a researcher at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
He stated that how China has done so well in the nuclear energy field and whether the United States can catch up are critical questions.
How did China do it?
The article admitted that modern nuclear power plants are among the most complex construction projects on Earth.
The manufacture of the reactor pressure vessel (where atomic fission occurs) requires 15-centimeter-thick special steel that must withstand continuous radiation bombardment for decades. Then, the reactor vessel is placed inside a massive containment building, whose dome typically reaches three stories high and has a diameter larger than the dome of the U.S. Capitol. The dome is made of reinforced concrete to prevent leaks. The thousands of kilometers of pipes and wiring used in the nuclear power plant must meet strict safety standards.
Funding for these multi-billion-dollar projects is extremely difficult. Even minor project delays, such as modifying a component during construction, can lead to a surge in borrowing costs.
After long-term development, China has overcome this complex process.
The article attributes this to three factors: government support, focusing on a limited number of reactor types, and setting clear development goals.
First, in terms of financing, state-owned nuclear power groups can obtain policy-based low-interest loans, which is crucial for controlling overall investment costs, as financing costs can account for one-third of the total cost. At the same time, China has implemented a clear benchmark electricity price policy for nuclear power, providing stable electricity price expectations for the early development of the industry.
However, policymakers have begun to reduce support and push nuclear power plants to achieve economic competitiveness.
Equally important is that Chinese nuclear power companies standardize the construction of a limited number of reactor models, allowing builders to continuously improve construction processes.
"This is crucial for achieving efficient mass production," said Jiang Yue, an energy innovation analyst at the Breakthrough Institute, an American nuclear energy research organization. "This means simplifying the approval process and optimizing the supply chain."
Additionally, the Chinese government has set clear national goals for nuclear power development, enabling companies to confidently invest in domestic factory construction and specialized engineering teams.
In a vast complex near Shanghai, huge reactor pressure vessels are continuously being forged, ready to be transported to new construction sites when needed. Professional welding teams move nonstop from one construction site to another.
However, the situation has been different in the West.
In the 1970s and 1980s, as interest rates rose and regulatory agencies frequently tightened safety regulations, leading to construction delays, nuclear power construction in the United States gradually fell into near stagnation. After the partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in 1979, public concerns about catastrophic accidents increased, exacerbating the situation. At the same time, private developers kept experimenting with new reactor designs, which required different components and brought new complexities. The U.S. nuclear power industry declined due to a lack of predictability.
In the mid-2000s, this contrast became particularly evident.
At that time, U.S. utility companies attempted to revive nuclear power by adopting the AP1000 new reactor with enhanced safety features. Contractors faced numerous difficulties with this new technology, causing repeated delays and soaring costs. When the two reactors in Georgia were finally completed last year, most utility companies were unwilling to attempt new projects.
China started building AP1000 reactors at the same time. China also faced challenges, such as difficulties in obtaining coolant pumps and unexpected cost surges.
However, instead of giving up, Chinese officials thoroughly investigated the problems and ultimately concluded that they needed to adjust the design and develop domestic supply chains.
"The Chinese did very smartly," said James Krellenstein, CEO of the nuclear energy consulting company Alva Energy. "They said, 'We'll pause for a few years and learn all the lessons.'"
A report from the U.S. Department of Energy found that China is currently building nine improved versions of the AP1000 reactor, all of which are expected to be completed within five years, with significantly reduced costs. Some experts say that if the United States had not stopped building reactors, it might have achieved similar results.
Infrastructure: "China is an expert"
"From dams to highways and high-speed rail, China is an expert, and the skills to manage these projects can be applied elsewhere," said David Fishman, a power industry consultant at the Lantau Group consulting firm.
China hopes that nuclear energy will play an important role in reducing emissions.
Solar and wind energy are the fastest-growing sources of energy in China, accounting for most of its zero-emission electricity. However, since solar panels and wind turbines cannot operate around the clock, they require power plants that can run on demand as a backup. Currently, China mainly uses coal-fired power to fulfill this task. Increasing nuclear power capacity can help replace coal and balance renewable energy generation. China is accelerating nuclear power construction and plans to build hundreds of reactors by the middle of the century.
After describing China's achievements in nuclear power, the article poses a soul-searching question: Can the United States catch up?
In the United States, nuclear energy is one of the few energy types supported by both political parties, especially against the backdrop of growing electricity demand. Even environmentalists like Al Gore, who once worried about catastrophic accidents and radioactive waste, have begun to show interest in this technology.
However, the United States is taking a completely different path in nuclear energy development—relying more on private sector innovation rather than government support.
Dozens of startups are developing a new generation of small reactors, which are cheaper than the large old reactors. Companies like Google, Amazon, and OpenAI are investing billions of dollars in nuclear startups like Kairos, X-Energy, and Oklo to help provide power for these big companies' artificial intelligence data centers. Early projects of these startups are being conducted in Wyoming, Texas, and Tennessee, but it is expected that few reactors will be built before the 2030s.
On August 29, the two reactors at the Florida Power & Light Company's St. Lucie Nuclear Plant. IC Photo
The Trump administration is seeking to speed up reactor construction by narrowing the scope of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the agency responsible for pre-construction safety certification of reactors. Critics of the NRC argue that it is too outdated and has failed to properly certify the new generation of reactors that are unlikely to melt down.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright pledged that the federal government is betting on the influx of private capital into nuclear energy projects to stimulate American creativity and drive the United States to surpass China.
However, some supporters of nuclear energy worry that the United States is placing too much hope on technological breakthroughs rather than focusing on the stable policy support and infrastructure needed to build nuclear power plants, as China does.
For example, the United States no longer has heavy forging companies that produce reactor pressure vessels, while China has three. Advanced reactors may take years to perfect, putting the United States far behind.
"Looking at so many design options, especially in the United States, you think, 'Oh God, help us,'" said Philip Andrews-Speed, a senior researcher at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. "I think narrowing the range of possible choices is wise."
Moreover, it remains to be seen whether the Trump administration can fulfill its promises. Although the U.S. government has taken measures to accelerate the approval of nuclear energy projects and increase domestic nuclear fuel supplies, some key government tools for building new reactors, such as the Department of Energy's loan office, have been severely damaged due to personnel cuts. Efforts to simplify safety regulations may also spark controversy. If the AI boom cools down, tech giants' interest in nuclear energy may also wane.
"The United States has the capability to develop nuclear energy," said Stephen Ezell, vice president of global innovation policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. "But the question is: Are we going to build just a few small reactors to power data centers, or will we see the entire government take a serious and committed approach to making nuclear power an extremely important source of electricity?"
"China is taking the second approach," he added.
"Once China decides to export, they will become a strong competitor."
The article believes that, at present, China's focus is mainly on developing its own nuclear power plants. But China has already built three reactors in Pakistan, and the ultimate plan of the Chinese government is to promote the export of nuclear energy technology equipment.
Russia currently dominates this market, but China's continuously improving technical capabilities in the nuclear energy field have laid a solid foundation for deeper participation in the international market.
British officials had begun planning to build a reactor designed by China near Essex in 2015. However, the project faced political resistance, and this year, British companies have turned to the United States, signing a joint agreement to invest billions of dollars in building small reactors.
The article states that China is striving to catch up with the United States' technological advantages, having already built and commercially operated the world's first fourth-generation nuclear power plant. China is also conducting R&D to make reactors use less uranium, such as thorium reactors, or to recycle spent nuclear fuel.
Even though U.S. companies and laboratories remain at the forefront of innovation, recent reports have warned that China is 10 to 15 years ahead of the United States in the ability to widely deploy next-generation reactors.
This scene is familiar: the United States invented solar panels and batteries, but China was the first to achieve mass production and dominate the global market.
"When China decides to start exporting reactors, they will become our strong competitors," said Paul Saunders, chairman of the National Interest Center, a U.S. conservative think tank. "Perhaps we can persuade some allies not to buy China's reactors, but there are many countries with growing energy demands."
"If the United States doesn't prepare, we won't be able to compete."
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