China’s Rapid Nuclear Expansion Is Threatening U.S. Dominance in the Sector

By Haley Zaremba - May 22, 2024

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• China is quickly becoming the world's leading producer of nuclear energy, raising concerns for US competitiveness.
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• China's plans for floating nuclear plants in the disputed South China Sea create tension with neighboring countries.
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• China and Russia's joint project to build a nuclear reactor on the moon raises questions about safety and militarization.

China’s runaway nuclear energy expansion has competitors biting their fingernails. As nuclear energy regains traction around the world as a promising baseload power source for a decarbonized future, it’s also become more and more of a geopolitical battleground. As countries scramble to keep a strategic foothold in a rapidly changing energy landscape, becoming a nuclear energy powerhouse is suddenly important for world superpowers. And China seems to be winning this race. 

While the United States has been the biggest nuclear power generator in the world for decades, the American market has significantly slowed in recent years at the same time that Beijing has doubled down on deployment, adding a whopping 34 gigawatts of nuclear energy capacity over the last ten years. As a result, China is set to overtake the United States (and France) to become the world’s biggest producer of nuclear energy within the decade. 

China currently has 55 operating nuclear power reactors compared to the United States’ 94, but it already has 23 new reactors under construction and more on the way. In fact, it’s taken China just 10 years to add the same amount of nuclear capacity that the United States needed four decades to build. 

Beijing is able to approve new nuclear reactors at a much faster clip than the United States, at a blazing rate of ten new plant approvals per year. Chinese plants are also much less expensive to build, in part thanks to preferential loans with particularly favorable terms from state-owned banks. While the United States has recently taken pains to kick-start its own stalled nuclear energy sector, its newest power plant is so behind schedule and over budget that nuclear energy advocates are worried that it might derail the nation’s nuclear ambitions altogether. 

While the sharp rise in nuclear energy deployment in China is great news for the nation’s decarbonization potential – and therefore great news for the entire world’s ability to meet mid-century climate goals – China’s fast and furious approach has put a number of world leaders on edge. Policymakers in the United States have demonstrated concern that China’s rapidly increasing nuclear energy capacities could allow it to export nuclear reactors at a large scale, ultimately undermining U.S. foreign relations in the importing countries. This would not be a new trend, but a continuation of China’s already massive expansion of energy influence in emerging markets. 

Meanwhile, China’s plans to put floating nuclear power plants in the South China Sea have stirred up tensions with its Southeast Asian neighbors. China, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines all have overlapping claims to parts of the sea, which China claims almost in its entirety despite a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration which rejected Beijing’s claim as “having no legal basis.” In contempt of this ruling, China has continued to ‘reclaim’ land to build artificial islands in the Sea and now plans to send about 20 floating nuclear power plants to some of those islands. 

Experts have widely condemned these plans, warning that “China’s planned deployment of floating nuclear reactors to the disputed South China Sea may risk ramping up tensions with other claimants and undermining regional security.” Adding to these tensions, there is some legitimate concern that China will be using these plants to power military operations in the conflicted region, which would be in violation of international law. 

Indeed, China’s outsized nuclear ambitions cannot be hemmed in by its own borders, or even terrestrial bounds. Earlier this year, Moscow and Beijing announced joint plans to put a nuclear reactor on the moon within the next decade. Russian state media even claims that development of the plant is already underway and Russia and China are currently working on experimental and research facilities under the project.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

Hot testing completed at first Zhangzhou unit

22 May 2024

Tests that simulate the temperatures and pressures which the reactor systems will be subjected to during normal operation have been completed at unit 1 of the Zhangzhou nuclear power plant in China's Fujian province. The unit is the first of three Hualong One (HPR1000) reactors under construction at the site.

Workers in the control room mark the completion of hot tests at Zhangzhou 1 (Image: CNNC)

Hot functional tests involve increasing the temperature of the reactor coolant system and carrying out comprehensive tests to ensure that coolant circuits and safety systems are operating as they should. Carried out before the loading of nuclear fuel, such testing simulates the thermal working conditions of the power plant and verifies that nuclear island and conventional equipment and systems meet design requirements.

China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) noted that during the hot testing of Zhangzhou 1, workers completed the full-load load test of the diesel generator, main system passivation, and 111 commissioning tests, as well as 73 regular operation tests.

Cold functional tests - which are carried out to confirm whether components and systems important to safety are properly installed and ready to operate in a cold condition - were completed at Zhangzhou 1 in early November last year. The main purpose of those tests - which marked the first time the reactor systems were operated together with the auxiliary systems - was to verify the leak-tightness of the primary circuit.

The Zhangzhou site (Image: CNNC)

China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued construction licences for Zhangzhou units 1 and 2 on 9 October 2019 to CNNC-Guodian Zhangzhou Energy Company, the owner of the Zhangzhou nuclear power project, which was created by CNNC (51%) and China Guodian Corporation (49%) in 2011. Construction of unit 1 began one week after the issuance of the construction licence, with that of unit 2 starting in September 2020.

"According to the plan, unit 1 will generate electricity within the year, which will drive the economic and social development of southern Fujian and serve as a new development engine for the region to achieve carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals," CNNC said. It noted that preparations are currently under way for cold functional tests at unit 2.

In September 2022, China's State Council approved the construction of two further Hualong One units as Phase II of the Zhangzhou plant. First concrete for the nuclear island of unit 3 was poured on 22 February this year. CNNC said first concrete for unit 4 is expected "within the year".

Control room commissioned at Chinese SMR

21 May 2024

The main control room of the ACP100 small modular reactor demonstration project at the Changjiang site on China's island province of Hainan, has officially been put into operation, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced.

The ACP100's main control room (Image: CNNC)

CNNC said that, with the establishment of part of the digital control system (DCS) network - the 'nerve centre' of nuclear power plant operation, the first on-site measurement signal was displayed on the main control screen.

The main control room of the ACP100 - referred to as the Linglong One - adopts a large wall-mounted monitoring screen for the first time, the company said, adding that this design greatly optimises the space of the main control room.

The control room's wall-mounted monitoring screen (Image: CNNC)

The DCS system for the ACP100 adopts two domestically-developed platforms: the Dragon Scale platform (safety level) and Dragon Fin platform (non-safety level). The Dragon Scale platform can realise reactor safety control under various working conditions and ensure the safe operation of the nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, the Dragon Fin platform is responsible for operation and management and is an important guarantee for the efficient and economical operation of the nuclear power plant. Between them, the two platforms control hundreds of systems within the nuclear power plants, nearly 10,000 equipment operations and various operating conditions.

The first cabinet of the DCS system was moved into place on 10 April, followed by installation and debugging work.

CNNC announced in July 2019 the launch of a project to construct an ACP100 reactor at Changjiang. The site is already home to two operating CNP600 pressurised water reactors (PWRs), while the construction of the two Hualong One units began in March and December 2021. Both those units are due to enter commercial operation by the end of 2026.

First concrete for the ACP100 was poured on 13 July 2021, with a planned total construction period of 58 months. Equipment installation work commenced in December 2022 and the main internal structure of the reactor building was completed in March 2023.

Under development since 2010, the 125 MWe ACP100 integrated PWR's preliminary design was completed in 2014. In 2016, the design became the first SMR to pass a safety review by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Once completed, the Changjiang ACP100 reactor will be capable of producing 1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to meet the needs of 526,000 households. The reactor is designed for electricity production, heating, steam production or seawater desalination.

The project at Changjiang involves a joint venture of three main companies: CNNC subsidiary China National Nuclear Power as owner and operator; the Nuclear Power Institute of China as the reactor designer; and China Nuclear Power Engineering Group being responsible for plant construction.

Karachi 2: Final sign-off for first Hualong One export

21 May 2024

Representatives from China and Pakistan formally signed the final acceptance certificate for Karachi unit 2, just over three years after the 1100 MWe unit started up.

The event to mark the final acceptance of Karachi 2 was attended by representatives from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, Karachi K-2/K-3 Nuclear Power Plant and China Zhongyuan (Image: CNNC)

Karachi 2 was declared in commercial operation in May 2021. Since then, various performance indicators have been gradually optimised, and operating performance and WANO indicators have been continuously improved, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) said. The unit has generated a total of nearly 23 billion kWh, reducing coal consumption by 7.176 million tonnes and carbon dioxide emissions by 18.768 million tonnes per year.

Experience gained from the design, construction, commissioning and operation of the unit will be used to improve new projects, including preparations for the construction of Chashma unit 5 - for which a ground-breaking ceremony was held last year - the company added.

CNNC said that its Zhongyuan Operations and Maintenance subsidiary has been working towards finalising acceptance items and equipment warranty documents during the unit guarantee period. It said it has "successfully closed" more than 99.9% of the main contract guaranteed task projects and "effectively promoted the improvement of the operational stability" of many key items of equipment.

A joint working group was set up in February to "proactively and comprehensively" understand any concerns raised by Pakistan during the final acceptance phase of the unit. Zhongyuan Operations and Maintenance worked closely with the Pakistani owners to ensure the rapid resolution of concerns with frequent meetings to study related issues and discuss solutions, which significantly reduced the number of final acceptance items, CNNC said.

Karachi units 2 and 3 are the first exports of CNNC's 1100 MWe Hualong One pressurised water reactor. Construction of unit 2 began in 2015 and unit 3 the following year. Karachi 2 achieved first criticality in February 2021 and was connected to the grid the following month after the completion of commissioning tests. Unit 3 achieved first criticality in February 2022 and entered commercial operation in April that year. The site, in the province of Sindh, was also home to Pakistan's first nuclear power reactor, Karachi 1 - a small Canadian pressurised heavy water reactor which shut down in 2021 after 50 years of operation.

In August 2023, Pakistan's Executive Committee of the National Economic Council formally approved a project to build Chashma unit 5, a Hualong One reactor, at Mianwali in Punjab, on a site that is already home to four operating Chinese-supplied CNP-300 pressurised water reactors. China has agreed to invest some USD4.8 billion in the Chashma 5 project.

China Zhongyuan Engineering Corporation is CNNC's general contractor for Karachi 2 and 3.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News