Thomas Shugart, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said China’s deployment of floating nuclear power plants “would amount to a doubling-down” on China’s occupation of the artificial islands. “Our biggest concern is potential deployment in the South China Sea,” the State Department official said, noting the “long-standing and contentious territorial and maritime disputes in that area.” The official added: “There are also critical questions around the implementation of existing nuclear safety and security frameworks that still need to be addressed.” In 2016, two days before Chinese state media reported the government’s plan to build reactors, an international court in The Hague ruled that Beijing had no lawful claim to these reefs, some of which fell within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. Despite a 2015 pledge by President Xi Jinping not to militarize the islands, China has since placed antiship and antiaircraft batteries on the three biggest islands, Subi, Mischief and Fiery Cross Reefs landed aircraft on the runways and docked warships in the ports, alarming U.S. China had hoped to debut its first floating nuclear power plant by 2021, but nuclear engineers working on the project revealed challenges, including regulators’ concerns about “safety and feasibility.”Ĭhina over a decade ago began building artificial islands on remote atolls and coral reefs in the South China Sea - constructing ports, runways, barracks and hangars.

According to a 2022 report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, construction for one is scheduled to commence this year, while another is in the detailed design stage.īut progress has been spotty. carrier fleet coming from afar.”Īmid escalating tensions in the South China Sea, these reactors can “ensure the smooth conduct of military exercises,” researchers from a State Council-affiliated institute highlighted in a 2020 article.Ĭhina’s National Development and Reform Commission, which approves nuclear projects, has signed off on three types of floating power reactors currently in development. Their military advantage far outweighs that of a U.S.

equipped with combat aircraft and missile systems. The state-run Global Times Online reported in 2016 that the government planned to deploy 20 of these reactors in the South China Sea to support commercial development, oil exploration and seawater desalination.īut the same article also boasted of military applications: “Each South China Sea island and reef, paired with a floating nuclear-powered platform,” is essentially “a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

According to IEEE Spectrum, it consists of two pressurized-water KLT-40S reactors, similar to those powering Russian nuclear icebreakers, and two steam turbine plants.Ĭhina began designing floating nuclear power reactors in 2010. Photos of the facility show a multistory cogeneration plant on a nonmotorized barge. Russia is the only country to operate a floating nuclear power plant, the Akademik Lomonosov, which became operational in December 2019. Its coast guard has directly challenged Philippine vessels seeking to resupply a Philippine ship anchored off the Second Thomas Shoal. Beijing, which is executing the most ambitious military buildup since the end of the Cold War, has been increasingly assertive in waters off Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines. These worries are coming at a time of heightened tensions in the western Pacific. officials say China is in advanced research and development stages to build reactors for military purposes. Worries about China’s intentions were voiced obliquely during the Obama administration and more forcefully during the Trump administration. The State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense in Beijing, which oversees approved nuclear-related projects, did not respond to a request for comment. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the department. “Our concern is that the closer they get to deploying floating nuclear power plants, the faster they’ll use them for purposes contrary to the national security of the United States and broader security in the region,” a senior State Department official said in an interview. His apprehension is shared by the State Department. China’s claim of sovereignty of the entire South China Sea has no basis in international law and is destabilizing the entire region.”

“Chinese state media has stated publicly Beijing’s intent to use them to strengthen its military control of the South China Sea, further exerting their unlawful territorial claims. “China’s intended use of floating nuclear power plants has potential impacts to all nations in the region,” said Aquilino, who is relinquishing his command Friday.

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