The US is 15 years behind China in developing high-tech nuclear power, with Beijing’s state-backed technology approach and heavy funding giving it an edge. Reuters writes about this, referring to the study of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, reports HAS.
Details
China is building 27 nuclear reactors with an average construction time of about seven years, much faster than other countries.
China’s rapid deployment of increasingly modern nuclear power plants has led to significant economies of scale and learning effects over time, suggesting that Chinese enterprises will benefit from incremental innovation in the industry in the future.
Let’s add
The US has the world’s largest fleet of nuclear power plants, and President Joe Biden’s administration believes the near-zero-emissions energy source is critical to curbing climate change.
But after two nuclear reactors at the Georgia nuclear power plant went online in 2023 and 2024, billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule, no nuclear reactors are being built in the United States.
However, the world’s first high-temperature, fourth-generation gas-cooled reactor was put into operation in China last year. The China Nuclear Energy Association says the project has developed more than 2,200 sets of “world-first equipment,” with an overall localization rate of 93.4% of locally produced materials.