US EditionA long-abandoned US nuclear technology is making a comeback in China
- During the week of May 2025, China gave the green light to 10 additional nuclear reactors, involving an investment exceeding $27 billion, speeding up nuclear development nationwide.
- China is rapidly advancing its nuclear reactor development in an effort to close the gap with the United States, which continues to lead in the number of active reactors globally.
- China is leading advancements in nonstandard nuclear technology, particularly high-temperature gas-cooled reactors, including a thorium-based design that became operational in June 2024.
- The experimental thorium reactor produces two megawatts of thermal power and has recently been refueled while remaining operational, a process that traditional uranium reactors cannot perform.
- China’s progress reflects renewed global interest in formerly abandoned US nuclear technologies from the mid-20th century that could address climate and energy challenges if further developed.
12 Articles
12 Articles
China is praised for reaching world leaders in nuclear innovation using a U.S. prototype. “People sometimes make mistakes or become lazy”
Chinese scientists have been able, on a global scale, to perform an experimental nuclear reactor without stopping it, according to Live Science, taken by Agerpres. The success has been possible by continuing research started in the 1950s by...
China Achieves Historic First: Refueling a Running Nuclear Reactor
China Revives Abandoned U.S. Nuclear Tech to Achieve Energy BreakthroughChina now has world's first operational thorium nuclear reactorChinese scientists have achieved a major breakthrough in nuclear energy by reviving old research from the United States. They built a unique reactor in the Gobi Desert that runs on thorium, a different and safer fuel compared to uranium.Unlike traditional reactors, the Chinese scientists built one that produces l…
A long-abandoned US nuclear technology is making a comeback in China - TECHTELEGRAPH
You can basically copy and paste that line into countless stories about today’s advanced reactor technology. Molten-salt cooling systems? Invented in the mid-20th century but never commercialized. Same for several alternative fuels, like TRISO. And, of course, there’s thorium. This one research reactor in China running with an alternative fuel says a lot about this moment for nuclear energy technology: Many groups are looking into the past for t…
Chinese Companies Launching Feasibility Studies on Using Small Nuclear Reactors to Power Data Centers - YT FINANCE
“China’s leading information technology and transportation companies have partnered with nuclear energy enterprises to conduct preliminary assessments on demonstration projects using small modular reactors (SMRs) to power data centers, as well as to develop integrated vehicle-mounted micro-reactor technologies,” said Wang Binghua, a special advisor to the Expert Committee of the China Nuclear Energy Association.
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