Source:  The New York Times

Date Published: 10.22.2025

Link: How China Raced Ahead of the U.S. on Nuclear Power

The construction of nuclear power plants in China proceeds at a breakneck pace. Between 2013 and 2020, 13 such plants came online; 33 additional facilities have construction schedules over the next decade. Besides domestic use, China exports technical expertise and reactors to countries across the planet that seek carbon emissions-free power generation. Meanwhile, in the USA, the nuclear power industry lags behind. In the same period as China’s frantic pace of construction, only 2 nuclear power facilities came online in America. The article attributes China’s success in the rapid construction of these power facilities to economies of scale, generous government support, and the use of standardized templates in construction. American efforts to revitalize the nuclear power sector, the article contrasts, will depend more on private sector investment sparked by the data center boom and that sector’s appetite for electricity rather than the centralized government support.