Accurate or not, statistics don't always tell the whole story, or even the most important part. China's nuclear industry is a good example. In 2001, the nuclear capacity for the most heavily populated country on Earth was slightly less than that of Finland. Nevertheless, the international nuclear industry is 'beating a path' to China's open door. Asia is a growth market for nuclear power.

Perhaps, no other nuclear industry is as difficult to write about as that of China. The previous China feature attempted to avoid superlatives as much as possible in an effort to maintain neutrality. Nevertheless, one superlative and seemingly exorbitant prediction came true and is still coming true. The article quoted a statement from a 1998 report: “no country in Asia (or anywhere else on the planet) is expected to grow as fast as China.” Within a few years, China’s nuclear market has expanded at such a rapid rate that this “bold statement” of the time is one of the few that has not been rendered obsolete. From 1996 to the end of 2003, not one company has brought a single new reactor on line in the United States, nor cleared a patch of ground to begin building, nor applied for a license to start construction. Since January 2002, China has brought 6 on line in China, plus one reactor in Pakistan. The question is no longer: can China’s nuclear industry maintain its current growth rate? The question now being asked is, can China accelerate that growth rate to meet the even more ambitious pace of its new energy plan?

Nevertheless, the story of China’s nuclear industry should be viewed in context. The nuclear industry is only one of many big stories related to China’s energy market. In the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) China Country Analysis Brief, the author indicates the following highlights:

• “China was the world’s third largest consumer of petroleum products in 2002, following the United States and Japan.”
• “Historically, natural gas has not been a major fuel in China, but…China has embarked on a major expansion of its gas infrastructure.”
• “Coal makes up the bulk, 64 percent of China’s primary energy consumption, and China is the largest consumer and producer of coal in the world.”
• “The largest project under construction, by far, is the Three Gorges Dam, which, when fully completed in 2009, will include 26 separate 700-MW generators, for a total of 18.2 GW.”
• “The Chinese government is in the early stages of formulating a fundamental long-term restructuring of its electric power sector…”

Compared with nuclear power, any of these trends might be regarded as of equal or greater importance. As China struggles to diversify its energy industry, the economic and political impacts will be felt throughout Asia and the rest of the world.

With more than a dozen countries involved to some extent in developing China’s nuclear industry, the impacts are already being felt. Nowhere else in the world can one observe a comparable variety of commercial nuclear technologies:

• China has Canadian (or CANDU) reactors.
• China has French reactors.
• China will soon have Russian reactors.
• And, of course, China has Chinese reactors.

Update: In January and July of 2003, China brought new reactors on line. The Nuclear Timeline identifies China's new reactors, and discusses an exchange of diplomatic notes in September that might further accelerate the rapid expansion of China's nuclear industry.

Please note that all reactor capacity totals appearing in this feature are given in megawatts (electric) or MW(e). The insertion of "electric" may puzzle new readers, but it distinguishes from other ways of calculating capacity, such as megawatts (thermal). For purposes of this feature, "reactor," "commercial nuclear generating unit" or "nuclear generating unit" are synonymous (unless otherwise indicated). Research reactors or reactors for military use are not covered in this feature.