Construction and operating costs for commercial nuclear power plants in China are dramatically less than those in the US and France, according to researchers from major universities.

The research team from Johns Hopkins University, Harvard, City University of New York (CUNY) and Stony Brook University compiled and analysed new data to show how China has reduced nuclear construction costs over time though a mixture of standardised designs, the “indigenisation” of supply chains and coordinated industrial policy.

In the US, average costs today for new nuclear plants can be as high as $15/watt, while the latest French plants cost over $4/watt, according to the authors. But the current cost of the highly standardised Chinese-designed plants are half that, or about $2/watt, the team found.