China is set to become a global leader in operational nuclear power capacity by 2030, as it is steadily expanding its nuclear energy industry, said experts and company executives.
As of the end of 2024, the country had 102 nuclear reactors in operation, under construction, or approved for construction, with a combined installed capacity of 113 million kilowatts, according to the "China Nuclear Energy Development Report 2025", which was released on Sunday in Beijing at the Spring International Forum on Sustainable Nuclear Energy Development.
This is the first time that China's overall nuclear power capacity has topped global rankings, the report said.
"China's nuclear energy development is entering a new period of strategic opportunities," Yang Changli, rotating chairman of the China Nuclear Energy Association, said at the forum.
"By 2030, the installed capacity of operational nuclear power is expected to reach 110 million kW. Nuclear power will play a vital role as a key substitute for high-carbon energy sources and a mainstay for the stability of the new power system," Yang said.
On Sunday, the State Council, China's Cabinet, approved the construction of 10 new reactors, including Phase III of the Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant in East China's Zhejiang province, with a combined investment exceeding 200 billion yuan ($27.4 billion).
This is the fourth year in a row that China has approved at least 10 new reactors, which further demonstrates the key role that nuclear power plays in the country's clean energy transition.
According to the CNEA, China currently has 28 nuclear reactors under construction, with a total installed capacity of 33.65 million kW. It also has 58 operational commercial nuclear reactors, with a combined installed capacity of 60.96 million kW.
"China's nuclear power sector has entered a peak period of large-scale construction," said Dong Baotong, vice-minister of ecology and environment. "With more units expected to be approved in the future, China's scale of units under construction is higher than the combined total of units under construction in countries worldwide."
According to the report, investment in nuclear power engineering construction in 2024 reached a record high of 146.9 billion yuan, about 52 billion yuan more than the previous year.
CITIC Securities estimated that with the accelerated approval of nuclear power projects, investment in new nuclear power plants in China is expected to reach 231 billion yuan by 2025, which will further stimulate the country's related industry chain and help the country achieve its carbon emission reduction targets sooner than planned.
Safety prioritized
The State Council meeting on Sunday emphasized absolute safety in nuclear power development, calling for efforts to ensure that nuclear power units are built and operated in accordance with the highest global safety standards.
According to the latest World Association of Nuclear Operators' index on global nuclear power unit performance, China's nuclear power operation safety performance has continued to rank among the best in the world.
Hou Yingdong, an official with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said at a news conference on Wednesday that China's nuclear power units have been operating with good safety standards for years.
Nuclear power units on the Chinese mainland have been operating safely for over 600 reactor years, he said. A reactor year refers to an operating year of one nuclear reactor.
Hou noted that China's nuclear power plants are all located far from earthquake-prone areas, and the impact of natural disasters such as heavy rain, floods and tsunamis has been fully considered. "The safety of the nuclear power plants is guaranteed in the face of extreme natural disasters," he said.
China has also established the world's largest monitoring network for radiation environment quality, and the radiation environment level around nuclear facilities has remained good for years, according to the news conference.
Tech independence
The China Nuclear Energy Association said that by 2024, China had achieved 100 percent domestic origin for key main equipment for nuclear power and ensured the independent control of key component technologies. It added that the country's independent research and development in the sector continues to achieve new breakthroughs.
The National Energy Administration said earlier that China has been making steady progress on under-construction nuclear power projects, and future power supply growth is likely to come mostly from nonfossil energy sources amid the country's green transition.
According to China General Nuclear Power Corp, which will operate four of the 10 newly approved reactors, the four reactors will use China's domestically designed Hualong One technology.
Hualong One is China's third-generation nuclear power technology with full intellectual property rights. It is also one of the most widely accepted series of third-generation nuclear power reactors in the world.
Hualong One is the most-used third-generation nuclear power technology in terms of units in operation or under construction worldwide, showing China's leading role in nuclear power technology and its overall competitiveness in the sector, according to CGN.
After the approval of the 10 new units, the total number of Hualong One nuclear power units in operation or under construction, both domestically and internationally, has reached 41, it said.
