China has transformed from a buyer of foreign reactor technology into the world’s largest nuclear construction market. Its operating fleet now includes around 60 reactors, while roughly three dozen additional units are under construction.
No other country is building nuclear capacity at a comparable rate. China is developing several reactors simultaneously at multi-unit coastal sites, supported by state-owned utilities, government-backed finance, domestic manufacturers and a growing network of specialized suppliers.
The scale is significant, but China’s nuclear program should also be understood within the country’s much larger electricity system. Nuclear provides only about 5% of national generation because China operates enormous coal, hydroelectric, wind and solar fleets. Its role is therefore not to dominate the power mix. It is to add firm, low-carbon generation in heavily populated and industrialized coastal regions where electricity demand remains high.
Coastal Provinces Form the Core of China’s Nuclear Fleet
Most Chinese nuclear stations are located along the eastern and southern coastline. Major operating and construction sites extend from Liaoning in the northeast to Hainan in the south.
Coastal siting provides access to large volumes of cooling water and places reactors close to major electricity-consuming regions. Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and Liaoning contain industrial centres, manufacturing zones and large urban populations that require dependable power.
The Daya Bay complex in Guangdong illustrates the development of China’s industry. The first commercial units were built with French technology and began operating during the 1990s. Later expansion created a six-reactor cluster with more than 6 gigawatts of capacity. By 2025, the site had supplied more than one trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity to the grid.
Other locations are being developed as large, standardized nuclear bases rather than isolated two-reactor stations. Zhangzhou in Fujian is planned as a six-unit Hualong One site. Taipingling in Guangdong is also planned around six Hualong One units, while Sanmen and Haiyang are expanding from their original AP1000 reactors with additional Chinese-designed units.
This multi-unit approach allows site infrastructure, transmission connections, operating staff and supply chains to support repeated construction. It is one reason China can move more quickly than countries attempting to restart nuclear construction after long gaps.
Hualong One Becomes the Main Domestic Reactor Design
China initially built its commercial nuclear industry using a mixture of imported and adapted technologies. Its fleet has included French-derived pressurized-water reactors, Russian VVER units, Canadian CANDU reactors and Westinghouse AP1000 units.
The program has increasingly shifted toward Chinese-controlled designs. The most important is Hualong One, also known as the HPR1000, a Generation III pressurized-water reactor developed through decades of domestic research and operating experience.
The first Hualong One entered commercial service at Fuqing in 2021. The design has since become the main reactor selected for many new Chinese projects. By 2025, more than 40 Hualong One units had been approved, placed under construction or brought into operation in China and overseas.
Standardization gives China several advantages. Manufacturers can produce repeated sets of reactor components rather than redesigning equipment for each plant. Construction companies can retain experienced teams, while operators and regulators can apply lessons from one project to the next.
The domestic supply chain supporting Hualong One includes thousands of companies. Chinese firms manufacture reactor vessels, steam generators, pumps, control systems, fuel assemblies and other specialized equipment. This reduces reliance on foreign suppliers and supports China’s effort to export complete nuclear projects.
Pakistan became the first foreign market for operating Hualong One reactors. China has also promoted the design in other countries, although overseas projects remain more difficult because they depend on financing, regulation, political relations and local electricity-market conditions.
China Maintains More Than One Large-Reactor Technology
Hualong One is central to the expansion program, but China has not limited itself to one reactor family.
The country operates AP1000 units developed from Westinghouse technology and is constructing the domestically adapted CAP1000. Additional CAP1000 units have been approved at the Haiyang site, where the design can benefit from experience gained from the first AP1000 reactors.
China also operates two European Pressurized Reactors at Taishan in Guangdong. These units introduced another advanced large-reactor technology into the fleet, although Hualong One and CAP1000 now have stronger roles in domestic construction plans.
Russian-designed VVER reactors operate at Tianwan, and further Russian units are being built at Tianwan and Xudabao. These projects reflect continuing nuclear cooperation between China and Russia even as China strengthens its own designs.
The result is a technically diverse operating fleet combined with a more standardized construction pipeline. China appears willing to maintain international reactor partnerships where they offer strategic or technical value, while directing most new domestic projects toward designs it can manufacture and control.
Advanced Reactors Expand the Program Beyond Conventional Power Plants
China is also using its large nuclear program to develop technologies that have not yet reached widespread commercial use elsewhere.
The HTR-PM demonstration project at Shidaowan entered commercial operation in 2023. It uses two small high-temperature gas-cooled reactors connected to one turbine. The design uses helium coolant and spherical fuel elements, offering high operating temperatures and potential applications beyond conventional electricity generation.
The ACP100, known as Linglong One, is under construction at the Changjiang site in Hainan. It is designed as a small modular pressurized-water reactor and is intended to demonstrate whether a compact nuclear unit can be constructed and operated commercially.
At Xiapu in Fujian, China is developing CFR-600 sodium-cooled fast reactors. Fast-reactor technology is connected to China’s long-term interest in recovering more energy from nuclear fuel and developing a closed fuel cycle.
These projects do not yet contribute major amounts of electricity. Their importance lies in industrial learning. China can test advanced systems while continuing to expand proven pressurized-water reactor capacity at a much larger scale.
Nuclear Growth Supports Energy Security but Does Not Replace Coal Quickly
China’s nuclear fleet has expanded rapidly, but the national power system is growing even faster. By the end of 2025, the country had almost 3,900 gigawatts of total generating capacity, compared with approximately 62.5 gigawatts of installed nuclear capacity.
Solar and wind additions greatly exceed annual nuclear additions. Coal also remains a central source of electricity and dispatchable capacity. Nuclear power is therefore one part of a broad strategy rather than a single replacement for fossil fuels.
Its value is strongest in regions where electricity demand is continuous and land is expensive. Nuclear plants can produce large amounts of power from relatively compact sites and operate at high capacity factors. They also support grid stability when output from wind and solar resources changes.
Nuclear generation can reduce the need for coal-fired output, particularly in coastal provinces that otherwise depend on coal transported from inland regions or imported through seaports. It also diversifies the energy mix and limits exposure to changes in international coal and natural gas markets.
However, reactors require long development periods, complex safety controls and high initial investment. Even China’s large construction program will add capacity more slowly than its solar and wind industries. Nuclear is consequently best viewed as a long-term source of firm power rather than a rapid substitute for every coal plant.
State-Owned Companies Drive an Integrated Nuclear Industry
China’s nuclear expansion is led by large state-owned groups. China National Nuclear Corporation and China General Nuclear Power Group are the main operators and developers, while State Power Investment Corporation and China Huaneng also participate in major projects.
Government approval allows construction to proceed in coordinated groups. In April 2025, the State Council approved ten additional reactors at five sites, continuing a pattern of approving multiple units each year.
China has also developed capabilities across the nuclear fuel cycle, including uranium procurement, conversion, enrichment, fuel manufacturing, spent-fuel management and research into reprocessing. Domestic uranium production is not sufficient to cover all long-term requirements, so Chinese companies maintain supply relationships and investments in overseas uranium-producing regions.
The wider industry includes engineering institutes, construction companies, universities, equipment manufacturers and research organizations. Repeated projects provide these institutions with a continuous volume of work that is difficult to maintain in countries building one reactor at a time.
This industrial depth may become as important as the reactors themselves. China is positioning nuclear technology as an exportable infrastructure product that can include finance, engineering, equipment, fuel services, training and long-term plant support.
Regulation Must Keep Pace with the Construction Program
Rapid development increases the importance of consistent regulation and quality control. China’s National Nuclear Safety Administration oversees civilian nuclear safety, radiation protection and related licensing activities.
The country’s Atomic Energy Law took effect in January 2026, strengthening the legal framework for nuclear development, imports, exports, safeguards and peaceful-use obligations. This provides a broader statutory foundation for an industry that is now much larger than it was when many earlier regulations were introduced.
The key regulatory challenge is scale. Dozens of units are operating or being constructed across multiple sites and reactor types. Maintaining qualified personnel, independent oversight and consistent construction standards will remain essential as the program expands.
China’s experience with standardized construction can reduce some risks by allowing lessons to be repeated. At the same time, a large project pipeline requires regulators and operators to avoid allowing schedule pressure to weaken inspection, documentation or safety culture.
China’s Nuclear Program Is Becoming a Global Industrial Force
China is likely to pass established nuclear countries in total operating capacity as its current construction pipeline enters service. Its position is based not only on the number of reactors but on the ability to approve, finance, manufacture and construct several projects at once.
Hualong One will remain the main engine of expansion, supported by CAP1000 projects, Russian cooperation and advanced-reactor demonstrations. Coastal nuclear bases will continue to supply industrial regions where firm electricity demand is high.
Nuclear power will still represent a modest percentage of China’s enormous electricity system. Its strategic importance will nevertheless grow because it combines domestic manufacturing, long-term energy security and low-carbon generation.
The success of the program will depend on maintaining construction quality and operating safety across an unprecedented number of projects. If China can sustain that performance, it will not simply become the country with the largest nuclear construction pipeline. It will become the main centre of global reactor manufacturing, project delivery and nuclear technology development.
