How China Is Building More Nuclear Power Than Anyone Else in the World
What it takes to build reactors at scale.
Construction takes place on the Taishan 1 Areva SA EPR reactor at the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group Co. atomic plant in Taishan, Guangdong Province, China, on Thursday, July 29, 2010.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/In the US right now, there is a lot of talk about a so-called "nuclear revival." But it remains to be seen whether we'll see a meaningful uptick in actual power generation, from either new reactors, or old reactors getting a restart. Meanwhile, in China, nuclear construction is full steam ahead. In the last decade, China has built 37 nuclear reactors, and several more are coming down the pipe. So what does it take to build nuclear at scale? On this episode, we speak to David Fishman, a China-based energy analyst at The Lantau Group. He walks us through all the elements of the country's nuclear success, from financing to manufacturing to its domestic power markets. We also discuss what, if any, lessons could be applied elsewhere. The transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.