Nuclear Rush Will Make China Third-Largest Nuclear Generator by 2020

With dozens of nuclear power plants planned or under construction, China will soon surpass South Korea, Russia, and Japan in nuclear generating capacity, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports. Nuclear power currently makes up slightly more than 2 percent of the country’s total power generation, but the Chinese government has a goal of generating at least 15 percent of the nation’s energy using non-fossil fuel sources by 2020. To help achieve this target, China plans to increase nuclear capacity to 58 gigawatts — more than doubling its current 23-gigawatt capacity — and to have an additional 30 gigawatts under construction by 2020. By the end of 2015, China is expected to surpass South Korea and Russia in nuclear generating capacity, and by 2020, it will generate more nuclear power than all nations except the U.S. and France. All of China’s nuclear plants are located along the east coast and in southern parts of the country, near the country’s most populous areas, but China has increasingly considered constructing reactors farther inland following the 2011 Fukushima disaster.