Aug 21, 2025
Energy, News
Emerging economies turn to Asian reactors for new wave of nuclear power
China, Korea and Russia move ahead of the West in the race to sell reactors overseas, as developing states back nuclear energy in a “new era of growth”
In the arid Al Dhafra region of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), about 400km from Dubai, the last of four dome-shaped reactors at the Barakah nuclear power plant came online last year, on schedule and on budget, in a country with no prior nuclear industry.
Underpinning the project supplying 25% of the UAE’s electricity, the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) built four APR-1400 units – large, uranium-based reactors that employ conventional technology to power electricity plants. The deal marked the first time Korean nuclear technology was exported.
After KEPCO’s success in the UAE, the company managed to beat French competitors in the Czech Republic, where one of its subsidiaries was commissioned to build another set of two APR-1400 reactors, scheduled for construction in 2029.
With the Nuclear Energy Agency saying the world needs to triple nuclear capacity by 2050 to help achieve net zero emissions by mid-century, Asian countries are leading the global race to build new reactors, as Western technology falls behind.
https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/08/21/emerging-asia-reactors-new-wave-power-energy-developing-china-korea/
