Recently, the United States has issued a warning that China is implementing a plan to develop floating nuclear reactors, which would provide power to military facilities built by China in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. The warning states that this plan could undermine regional security and stability.
John Aquilino, the outgoing commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, issued a warning on Friday that China intends to use floating nuclear power plants with potential impacts on all countries in the region. He noted that Chinese state media had openly stated that Chinese authorities plan to enhance military control in the South China Sea using floating nuclear power plants, further asserting illegal territorial claims without international legal basis, thus destabilizing the entire region.
His concerns have been echoed by the U.S. State Department.
On Thursday, The Washington Post reported, citing U.S. State Department officials, that China is in an advanced stage of developing military reactors — while international standards for the safe use of floating reactors have not yet been established.
A senior official from the U.S. State Department, speaking to The Washington Post anonymously, expressed concerns that as China gets closer to deploying floating nuclear power plants, it could quickly divert them to purposes contrary to U.S. national security and broader regional security objectives.
The timing of these concerns coincides with escalating tensions in the Western Pacific. Beijing is engaged in its most ambitious military buildup since the end of the Cold War, with increasingly assertive actions in the waters near Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines. Chinese coast guard ships have fired water cannons near Philippine vessels in shallow waters, resulting in injuries.
Russia is the only country currently operating a floating nuclear power plant, the Akademik Lomonosov, which began commercial operation in December 2019. The facility, as shown in photos, features a multi-story joint power plant on a non-self-propelled barge, comprising two pressurized water KLT-40S reactors and two turbine generators, according to IEEE Spectrum.
China started designing floating nuclear reactors in 2010. A Chinese report in 2016 mentioned plans by Chinese authorities to deploy 20 such reactors in the South China Sea to support commercial development, oil exploration, and seawater desalination.
The same report boasted about military applications, stating that each island reef in the South China Sea would have a floating nuclear power platform, essentially a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, equipped with combat aircraft and missile systems, surpassing the military capabilities of incoming U.S. carrier fleets.
A 2020 article from the Chinese State Council Development Research Center emphasized that these reactors could ensure smooth military exercises amid escalating tensions in the South China Sea.
According to a 2022 report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, one floating nuclear reactor project is set to start construction this year, while another reactor is in the detailed design stage.
However, progress has not been smooth. China had hoped to complete the first floating nuclear power plant by 2021, but challenges, including concerns from regulatory agencies about safety and feasibility, were revealed by the project’s nuclear engineers.
Many nuclear industry experts advocate for next-generation technologies like floating reactors or small modular reactors as a way to meet growing energy needs and reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. However, even supporters acknowledge the significant risks associated with these technologies.
Some scientists and environmentalists argue that compared to land-based nuclear power plants, floating nuclear power plants are uniquely vulnerable and could release radioactive contaminants into the ocean in the event of a catastrophic accident, similar to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
On land, nuclear reactors and their fuel are typically protected within thick concrete and steel containment structures up to five feet thick. Quoting Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists and a physicist, The Washington Post pointed out that designs for reactors floating at sea would not be as robust.
Lyman stated, “You can’t have large, leak-tight, thick reinforced concrete containment structures like many land-based nuclear plants do. If a floating reactor experiences a failure like that at the Fukushima plant, where the melted core eroded the containment, those things eventually get into the ocean.”
Lyman expressed concerns that floating reactors are susceptible to malicious attacks or damage by underwater assailants, or by tsunamis or superstorms, emphasizing that the concept is both impractical and dangerous. Failure to address these issues properly could potentially lead to disasters worldwide.
In recent years, China has experienced several accidents involving nuclear technology. In 2021, there was an incident at the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant in Guangdong, with damaged nuclear fuel rods leading to the plant’s shutdown for a year.