SPECIAL REPORT | ASIA
Firing up Asia’s nuclear future
Asia features the world’s fastest-growing economies and is turning to new nuclear to power its ambitions for sustainable growth
LARGELY MUTED GROWTH OF NEW nuclear capacity across the Western world comes in sharp contrast to the East, where many nations are planning or building new plants. According to recent analysis from the World Nuclear
Association (WNA), there are already 140 operable nuclear power reactors across the region, a further 30-odd are currently under construction and there are firm plans to build at least another 50 reactors. Although development across Asia is a mixed bag,
reflecting the region’s diversity, there are many active markets with clear development plans. About a quarter of worldwide operational reactors are located in Asia. Of these well over 100 are within the six countries of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Pakistan and Taiwan, which field a combined capacity of close to 100 GWe. The regional nuclear power league table is led by China, which has been pushing its domestic nuclear ambitions since the 1970s. Asia is home to about two-thirds of all the reactors currently under construction worldwide. Of these, almost 20 reactors are being built in China alone, which is developing a mix of domestic and western technology. With 54 operable reactors and a total capacity of 52.2 GWe, China has another 33 reactors in the planning stage which are expected to add a further 37 GWe. Over the 10 years
20 | August 2022 |
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to the end of 2021, China built 39 rectors out of the global total of 68, increasing the national nuclear contribution by a factor of about four. China has set out plans to reach 70 GWe of nuclear capacity by the end of 2025 and between six and eight new nuclear reactors are expected to be approved each year, adding some 9 GWe annually through to 2030. Following China on the regional league table comes
Japan with a technical installed capacity of more than 31 GWe from its 33 installed reactors. However, the majority of these plants remain shut down following on from the Fukushima Diiachi disaster of 2011 with the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) demanding additional safety measures be installed. Nonetheless, the country has been slow to restart even those reactors now deemed safely operable. Recently Japan’s prime minister demanded that further nine reactors be returned to service by winter. Prior to the tsunami around a third of Japan’s electricity came from nuclear and that proportion was expected to
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