Nuclear Power Plant Cost Analyses

Data regarding nuclear reactor construction, financing, and operation have often been conflicting and sparse. To address this challenge, the Anthropocene Institute, in collaboration with SystemThree Capital (a data and analytics infrastructure company located in the Greater Bay Area, China), completed a deep dive into data to understand nuclear-reactor-related costs is working with informed partners. This collaborative effort will provide unbiased insights to facilitate more accurate cost comparisons and analyses. This first report focuses on China, and France, UK, Korea, Japan, India, and Canada will be soon available. 

China’s first nuclear reactors began operations in the mid-1990s. As of August 2025, the country has fifty-seven operational reactors representing a total gross capacity of 59,364 MW. An additional thirty reactors are under construction, representing an investment of CNY 621.6 billion (USD 87.61 billion) for a further 36,451 MW of gross capacity. In the past two years, China has approved the construction of twenty-three new reactors, representing 27,319 MW of gross capacity at a budgeted cost of CNY 471.4 billion (USD 65.37 billion). Once these projects are completed, China’s fleet will represent 123,134 MW of gross capacity at a total cost of CNY 1,969.5 billion (USD 285.65 billion), an aggregate unit cost of 15,995 CNY/KW. [Costs were estimated first in Yuan per Kilowatt of capacity (CNY/KW), then converted using year-specific exchange rates so that each year of construction spend is translated at the rate then prevailing.]

For the 57 operational reactors, total costs amount to CNY 876.45 billion at a unit cost of 14,764 CNY/KW, with financing accounting for 21% of investment and construction durations averaging 74 months. The thirty reactors under construction carry a unit cost of 17,054 CNY/KW, the twenty-three approved reactors 17,255 CNY/KW; for both groups financing is 13% of investment and average construction duration is 67 and 70 months respectively. Average operating cost is 0.22 CNY/KWh for generation-2 reactors and 0.305 CNY/KWh for generation-3 reactors.

The operational fleet comprises forty-one generation-2 reactors, fifteen generation-3 reactors and one generation-4 reactor. Generation-2 reactors average 984 MW of gross capacity at an aggregate unit cost of 13,134 CNY/KW (1,976 USD/KW); generation-3 reactors average 1,253 MW at 17,961 CNY/KW (2,742 USD/KW). All thirty reactors under construction are generation-3 designs, twenty-six of them domestically developed, and domestic designs have been selected for forty-nine of the fifty-three projects under way or approved.

All of China’s reactors sit in provinces along the southern and eastern coastlines. Guangdong has the highest reactor count with fourteen operational units, roughly a quarter of the operating fleet, delivering 16,178 MW of gross capacity at a unit cost of 15,026 CNY/KW (2,320 USD/KW); eight more are under construction there and four approved. Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangsu together account for twenty-eight operational reactors. Generation-4 costs remain an outlier: the Shidao Bay high-temperature gas-cooled reactor carries a unit cost of 43,748 CNY/KW, with financing at 29% of total cost and a construction duration of 131 months.

These data demonstrate that nuclear power capacity can be built at reasonable cost and ultimately leads to unusually low operating costs— especially when compared to other carbon-emission-free energy sources.

* SystemThree Capital is a data and analytics infrastructure firm located in the China Greater Bay Area focused on data curation, reporting, monitoring, corporate governance advisory, and risk management in implementing sustainability and energy transition strategies.