It took US nearly 40 years to add the same nuclear power capacity as China added in last decade
China has added more than 34 GW of nuclear power capacity in the past 10 years, nearly tripling its nuclear capacity, according to the latest US Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysis.
The country has increased its number of operating nuclear reactors to 55 with a total net capacity of 53.2 GW, as of April 2024. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) official nuclear power reactor database, says China has 56 plants in operation with a total net capacity of 54.1 GW.
The EIA said an additional 23 reactors with an estimated 23.7 GW capacity are under construction in China. The IAEA puts this at 25 under construction with 26.3 GW net capacity.
The US still has the largest commercial nuclear fleet, with 94 reactors, but it took nearly 40 years to add the same nuclear power capacity as China added in 10 years.
Over the past decade China has added 37 nuclear reactors, according to the IAEA. During that same period the US added two.
The IAEA says China is the fastest expanding nuclear power generator in the world.
Despite rapid capacity growth in 2022, nuclear power made up only about 5% of China’s cumulative power generation that year. Nuclear power accounts for about 18% of the electricity generation mix in the US, the EIA said.
According to the EIA, China’s nuclear fleet is concentrated near population centres in the eastern part of the country along the coast of the Pacific Ocean.
Beijing Aiming To Curb Reliance On Coal
Nuclear reactors are located from the Liaoning province in the north to the Hainan province in the south.
The EIA said the country’s nuclear fleet consists mostly of pressurised water reactors, including four domestically developed HPR1000, or Hualong One plants in operation – two at Fuqing and two at Fangchenggang. There are 10 HPR1000 plants under construction.
There four operational Westinghouse-designed AP1000s, two each at Sanmen and Haiyang, each with a capacity of 1,157 MW, and two French EPRs at Taishan, each with a capacity of 1,660 MW.
China implemented a long-term strategy in 2011 for nuclear power development to meet its electricity demand and to address environmental concerns.
However, coal still remains China’s largest electricity generation source. Coal-fired capacity increased by 19.5 GW in China in 2022, bringing its total coal-fired capacity to 1,089 GW.
Beijing is trying to curb its reliance on coal, which pollutes the air and is hard to transport from the coal mines in the west and north of the country to the economically developed southeast coast, where China is building most of its reactors, the IAEA said.
With nuclear, it plans to increase energy security, lower its reliance on coal and oil and limit CO2 emissions while keeping up with its economic growth, the IAEA said.
