The United States must start building new nuclear power plants (NPPs) if it wants to maintain its leadership in nuclear energy. This opinion was expressed by The National Interest's energy expert Emily Day, commenting on Rosatom head Alexei Likhachev's statement about Russia's assistance to China.
China has grandiose plans for the development of nuclear energy. The task is to catch up with and overtake the United States in terms of installed capacity, which means reaching a capacity of more than 100 gigawatts.
According to Likhachev, Rosatom has built "four and is building another four nuclear reactors with a capacity of more than one gigawatt" in China.
Day stated that the United States currently operates one of the largest NPP networks with an installed capacity of 97 GW. However, only 2 new reactors have appeared in the United States since 2015.
China, on the other hand, has built 35 new reactors during this time. Beijing needs a large amount of uranium. But Russia plans to develop a closed nuclear fuel cycle and help China process spent fuel.
If Washington hopes to maintain leadership in the nuclear field, it must take measures to expand the construction of new nuclear power plants. Failure to compete with China and Russia threatens the loss of technological leadership and geopolitical influence in one of the most strategically important energy markets.
As of February 2025, there are 57 industrial nuclear reactors operating in China. Rosatom is involved in construction at the "Xudapu" and "Tianwan" NPP sites.
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