According to the Associated Press, China has built a land-based prototype nuclear reactor for a large surface warship.
According to the Associated Press, China has constructed a land-based prototype nuclear reactor for a large surface warship, which will be used to build the country's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
There have long been suspicions that China intends to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, but the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California is the first to confirm that Beijing is developing a nuclear-powered propulsion system for a carrier-sized surface warship.
China's fleet is already the world's largest numerically rapidly modernising. Adding nuclear-powered carriers to its fleet would be a significant step towards realising its plans for a truly "blue-water" force capable of operations worldwide, posing a rising challenge to the US.
Nuclear carriers take longer to build than conventional carriers, but once operational, they can stay at sea for considerably longer because they do not require refuelling. There is also more storage on board for fuel and aircraft weaponry, expanding their capabilities. They can also generate additional electricity to run advanced systems.
Only the United States and France have nuclear-powered carriers. The United States has 11 in total, allowing it to have numerous strike groups always deployed worldwide, especially in the Indo-Pacific region. However, the Pentagon is becoming increasingly concerned about China's accelerated modernisation of its fleet, which includes the design and building of additional carriers.
China presently possesses three carriers, including the new Type 003 Fujian, developed and built in China. It has stated that development has already started on a fourth, but it has not specified whether it will be nuclear or conventionally fuelled.
The reactor is housed in a new facility known as Base 909, which China's Nuclear Power Institute controls.
