The gap between America and China in nuclear energy is no longer a matter of competition. It is a rout. And the artificial intelligence boom now underway in China is about to make it worse.
Beijing has folded nuclear expansion directly into its 15th Five Year Plan. That plan makes clear: the government wants reactors built, and it wants them built fast.
Nearly half of all nuclear reactors under construction on the planet are in China. In the time the United States managed to finish one plant — Georgia’s Plant Vogtle, which came online years late and billions over budget in 2024 — China added a staggering amount of nuclear capacity. The exact figure is not specified in the report, but the scale is unmistakable.
Zero new reactors have come under construction in the United States since Vogtle. Zero.
Here is what is at stake. AI data centers are power-hungry. They require steady, carbon-free electricity around the clock.
Nuclear plants provide exactly that. China is now the world’s second-largest AI market and growing fast. Its government sees nuclear as the bedrock for that growth.
The United States, by contrast, has spent decades in political ambivalence over nuclear power. New fission projects have been controversial, expensive, and slow.
The result is a domestic nuclear sector in a state of neglect. Reactors age out faster than new ones are built. The pipeline is empty.
This is not an abstract policy difference. It is a concrete vulnerability.
If China can power its AI infrastructure with cheap, reliable nuclear electricity while the United States struggles to keep its existing reactors running, the technological balance shifts. AI development requires massive computation. Computation requires massive energy.
Energy requires infrastructure. China is building that infrastructure. The United States is not.
The top-down approach in Beijing leaves no room for the kind of political ambivalence that has paralyzed American nuclear projects. Funding is no object.
When the central government decides to build reactors, they get built. In the United States, the few attempts at building new reactors have been mired in controversy, cost overruns, and delays. Plant Vogtle stands as the most recent example — a monument to how not to build nuclear power.
The report makes the comparison blunt. American officials have not been able to match China’s level of investment or commitment.
The United States is still the world’s largest producer of nuclear energy. That status is unlikely to last. The consequence is straightforward.
As AI grows, so will the demand for electricity. China will have the supply. The United States will not.
That means Chinese AI companies will have cheaper, more reliable energy to run their models. American companies will face higher costs and grid constraints.
The race for AI dominance is in part a race for energy dominance. China has already placed its bet. Beijing has heavily emphasized new nuclear reactors in its planning.
The sharp rise in capacity expected in China is driven by that emphasis. The world is watching.
The future of nuclear energy looks set to be shaped by China’s aggressive expansion. The United States, meanwhile, is still arguing about whether to build anything at all. There is no sign this is changing.
The political ambivalence that has defined American nuclear policy for decades shows no sign of breaking. The reactors that are still running are aging. The ones that should replace them are not being built.
China is building dozens. That is the stakes.
Not just energy. Not just AI. But the infrastructure that will determine which country leads the next industrial revolution.
And right now, only one country is building it.
