According to the research institute, the United States is 10 to 15 years behind China in deploying next-generation nuclear reactors.
The United States lags far behind China in nuclear energy and is 10 to 15 years behind Asian powers in introducing next-generation nuclear reactors, the report found.
China has 27 nuclear reactors under development, but it will take an average of seven years to get a reactor up and running, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said in a report released Sunday — much faster than most other countries.
According to the Washington-based institute, China’s share of nuclear patents will increase from 1.3% to 13.4% between 2008 and 2023, and China now leads the way in the number of fusion patent applications.
The institute said Beijing’s rapid rise in the sector was due to a “coherent national strategy” to develop nuclear power, including low-interest loans, feed-in tariffs and simplified regulatory approvals.
“The Chinese government is giving significant priority to domestic nuclear reactor construction as part of Beijing’s broader energy strategy,” the report said.
“Looking forward, China is likely to leverage this established domestic manufacturing capacity as a basis for competitive nuclear reactor exports, similar to what its ‘dual circulation’ strategy has achieved in other sectors such as electric vehicles and batteries.”
According to the institute, the common view that China is a “copycat” and the United States is an “innovator” fosters a lax attitude toward industrial policy.
“First, this assumption is incorrect because innovators can lose leadership to lower-cost copymakers, as seen in many U.S. industries, including consumer electronics, semiconductors, solar panels, communications equipment, machine tools, and, as noted here, perhaps nuclear power. Second, it is not clear that China is destined to be a dull copymaker and always a follower,” the report states.
The United States remains the world’s largest producer of nuclear power, ahead of France and China, with 94 reactors accounting for about a third of the world’s electricity.
But the country has built just two new nuclear reactors in the past decade, both of which were years late and billions of dollars over budget.
China in December unveiled the world’s first so-called Generation IV nuclear power plant in Shidao Bay, in eastern Shandong province.
Chinese state media has touted the reactor as safer and more efficient than previous generations because it uses gas rather than pressurized water for cooling.
