China is putting all its efforts into nuclear energy

Myth:

China is going all-out for nuclear energy. Other nations should do the same.

Fact:

China is indeed building more nuclear power plants than any other nation, but nuclear’s contribution to its electricity grid is very small. In 2026, it had 60 nuclear reactors, with a total capacity of 58.7 gigawatts (GW). Another 36 GW are under construction, with a total capacity of 38.9 GW. In 2025, it increased its nuclear capacity by 1.1 GW. That same year it increased its renewable capacity by 430 GW! In other words, China added 391 times more renewable capacity in 2025 than it did nuclear capacity. So yes, China it is building nuclear reactors, but these are not central its energy plans. 

Control room of the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant in China. [Source: Flickr]

Sources:

International Atomic Energy Agency, Power Reactor Information System, https://pris.iaea.org/pris/worldstatistics/underconstructionreactorsbycountry.aspx

Jim Green, “Is nuclear power in a global death spiral?” Renew Economy, 3/3/23

Jim Green, “The latest nuclear power ‘renaissance’ is going in reverse,” Pearls and Irritations: John Menadue’s Public Policy Journal, 27/1/24

“China approves 11 new reactors,” World Nuclear News, 21/8/24