US Lags 15 Years Behind China on Nuclear Power

(DailyDig.com) – A Washington research institute, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, released a study on June 17 that revealed the US is nearly 15 years behind China in the development of nuclear energy.

With China’s technology backed by the state’s considerable financing, their high-tech advances in nuclear power allow them to construct nuclear reactors seven years faster than any other country, including the US.

Currently, China has 27 nuclear power plants under construction. According to the foundation’s report, China’s rapid implementation of nuclear power plants of a modern high-tech quality is a significant boost to their economy. The report suggests that China will soon gain an advantage in its quest for innovation in power generation.

At this time, the US led the world in nuclear power. President Biden’s administration acknowledges that an electricity source that is nearly free of emissions will be a crucial development for our country, both economically and environmentally.

Because the state owns China’s banks, they are able to generate loans at a significantly lower percentage than any Western country’s economy. China’s nuclear industry for power generation has allowed them to dominate categories in their country, like electric vehicles with renewable power from their nuclear plants.

However, the US has stalled the construction of new nuclear reactors. In the last two years, two large nuclear plants in Georgia, delayed for several years and over budget by billions of dollars, finally came online. In 2023, the US stopped planning to construct a high-tech nuclear power plant. Since the opening of the last plant in Georgia in 2024, the US has neither built nor planned any new nuclear reactors.

China’s fourth-generation reactor, which came online in December at Shidao Bay, is the first in the world.

The author of the foundation’s report, Stephen Ezell, stated that the US should be developing a national strategy that would involve more research and development funding, identifying technologies that look promising, and developing a workforce skilled to accomplish the task. He claimed that even though the US is lagging China, technologically, we can catch up.