China’s contentious plans to set up floating nuclear reactors in the South China Sea may rebalance the country’s power dynamics, bringing about risky fresh rifts between the United States and its regional allies and partners.
China is looking into developing floating nuclear reactors that had power military installations on its unnatural islands in the South China Sea, according to The Washington Post’s report this month. China continues to pursue the plans, despite the international community’s disagreements over standards for safe use of floating units, according to the document.
The US Indo-Pacific Command’s nose, Admiral John Aquilino, has warned that China’s use of floating nuclear power plants could have a negative impact on the region while highlighting that the plan may help China’s different maritime claims.
China has contested states in the water with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan, each boiling at different conditions. In 2016, a judgement Beijing has ignored was made in favor of the Philippines against China by a UN judicial court.  ,
The US State Department is also concerned that China’s use of floating nuclear power plants could add new threats to US regional stability and potentially worsen already strained regional security relationships.
China’s naval bases would strengthen its military presence in the sea place, which it has recently militarized and built up. According to the Washington Post report, the plants may pose greater risks than visits to US nuclear submarines in foreign ports.
Now, just Russia operates a floating atomic reactor, known as Akademik Lomonosov and launched in December 2019. Two gas turbine and two KLT- 40S reactors are used to power the Russian nuclear icebreakers.
Due to their unique risks in comparison to those of land-based crops, experts and activists are wary about floating nuclear reactor. A fatal accident, they note, may launch nuclear contaminants into the sea.
They may also likely be susceptible to martial and criminal attacks, sabotage, tsunamis or severe storms. The South China Sea provides 12 % of the country’s fish catch and travel to around one- third of global sea industry, meaning any accident may be fatal.
The Washington Post even points out China’s poor nuclear health history, noting in particular the 2021 Taishan Nuclear Power Plant event. According to the report, China and Russia have slowed the development of safety standards for floating nuclear reactors, despite the International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA )’s ( IAEA ) efforts to do so. China and Russia allegedly are trying to stifle the development of less stringent standards.
Russia and China announced a “no-limits” agreement in key areas like nuclear technology after the Ukraine war, which may have accelerated China’s floating nuclear power plant system.
Russia’s slowing sales of weapons and Western-led sanctions against its power sector may have spurred it to look for other revenue sources, such as China’s exports of nuclear technology.
Daniel Shats mentions that Rosatom Overseas and China National Nuclear Cooperation ( CNNC ) New Energy both signed Memorandum of Intent in 2014 to work together to create floating nuclear power plants in a report from January 2024 for the China Aerospace Studies Institute ( CASI).
In the South China Sea, CNNC made plans to build up to 20 drifting nuclear plants three years later.
Shats claims that the plants would supply the various debated, deliberately constructed local features of China with electricity and water. China’s floating nuclear power plants are still in development, but they appear to have not collaborated as much with Russia.
However, in order to power the Baimsky mining and processing plant in Chukotka in northeast Siberia, Rosatom awarded a US$ 226 million contract to Chinese shipbuilding company Wison ( Nantong ) Heavy Industries in September 2021 to construct two additional hulls for floating nuclear power plants. Russia intends to construct four more of these types of plants, two of which will use China-provided vessels.
Shats makes the claim that, despite China’s growing sourness since the Ukraine conflict, Russia still holds out in the battle of nuclear systems, including floating nuclear reactor and nuclear waste management.
However, he says China also strongly upholds indigenous development, despite significant nuclear systems cooperation with Russia.
Viet Phuong Nguyen mentions that China initially considered importing floating nuclear reactor technology from Russia, but that it later decided to use an indigenous ACPR50S reactor created by China General Nuclear Power ( CGN ) to support offshore oil and gas exploration in the Paracel and Spratly Islands and maintain its civilian presence there.
According to CGN, the ACPR50S has a power of 50 megawatts and is intended to provide power for offshore oil output, filtration operations, heating and cooling for southern areas and islands, and provide clean water.
Nguyen points out that the South China Sea’s occupied landmasses make civilian settlement very unlikely, which raises the military aspect of the endeavor.
He points out that any US attack on China’s occupied areas would likely cost more than the deployment of a floating nuclear reactor in the South China Sea.
He adds that China’s research into floating nuclear reactors could advance its carrier program for aircraft. China intends to have six aircraft carriers operational by 2035, whereas its fourth will most likely be nuclear-powered, compared to its three conventionally powered carriers.
Despite the controversy surrounding floating nuclear reactors, floating ones have the potential to revolutionize renewable energy and energy security.
In a November 2023 IAEA article, Lucy Ashton says the technology can provide a reliable energy supply in far- flung maritime areas, on remote islands or in coastal communities.
Ashton notices an increasing interest in using small modular reactors ( SMR ) on floating platforms or barges to decarbonize offshore oil, gas, or mining operations, and even to produce grid-scale electricity production at lower costs.
She claims that floating nuclear reactors create low-carbon energy and heat for applications like desalination and hydrogen production, distinguishing them from their naval and icebreaker counterparts.
The manufacturing process, which reduces the time and costs associated with building, allows for the production of the reactors to be done in a factory, shipyard, and shipyard.
However, Ashton points out that when floating nuclear reactors travel internationally or cross national borders, they may be questioned about licensing and regulations.
She enquires specifically about how these procedures would operate when a floating nuclear reactor was constructed, heated, and transported there.
She claims that floating nuclear reactors could aid archipelagic nations in replacing coal-fired power plants and converting hydrogen into green ammonia for shipping and agricultural use while the IAEA is still developing safety standards for them.