The Age of Chinese Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carriers Has Arrived

What You Need to Know: Satellite photos confirm that China has built a land-based nuclear reactor prototype for a large surface vessel, signaling significant progress toward a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

-Such a development would elevate China into an exclusive club of naval powers, currently limited to the U.S. and France, and enable true global "blue-water" capabilities.

-The findings by Middlebury Institute researchers offer concrete proof of China's ambition to close the qualitative gap with the U.S., complementing its already large navy. While constructing a nuclear-powered carrier remains complex and time-intensive, China's growing economic and military power suggests a formidable fleet in the coming decades.

China Builds Nuclear Reactor Prototype for Warships: What It Means for the U.S.

New satellite imagery confirms that China has built a land-based nuclear reactor prototype for use with a large surface vessel. The finding strongly suggests that China is nearing closer to installing a nuclear power plant on its upcoming aircraft carrier. The ramifications for such a technological upgrade are significant; a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier would give Xi a proper “blue-water” navy, capable of operating in seas around the world. 

“Nuclear-powered carriers would place China in the exclusive ranks of first-class naval powers, a group currently limited to the United States and France,” Tong Zhao, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the AP. 

“For China’s leadership, such a development would symbolize national prestige, fueling domestic nationalism and elevating the country’s global image as a leading power.” 

For the United States, the emerging intelligence confirms fears that China is inching closer toward peer status. China already has the largest navy in the world, quantitatively. Now, China is working to bridge the gap with the Americans qualitatively.  

A Startling Find 

Researchers at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, located in Monterrey, California, discovered the prototype reactor while studying satellite imagery. Oddly, the researchers weren’t looking specifically for evidence of a nuclear reactor. Rather, the researchers were investigating what they believed were Chinese efforts to build a reactor for producing plutonium or tritium for weapons.  

“Instead [the researchers] concluded that China was building a prototype reactor for a large warship,” the AP reported. 

The findings were not fully a surprise, China has long been rumored to be working towards a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, but the satellite imagery offered the most conclusive proof yet.  

“The reactor prototype…is the first solid evidence that China is developing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier,” Jeffrey Lewis, one of the researchers at Middlebury who made the discovery, told the AP. “Operating a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is an exclusive club, one that China looks set to join.” 

When Will the Aircraft Carrier be Operational? 

The satellite imagery does not suggest a timeline for when China’s nuclear aircraft carrier might become operational. Of course, the nuclear powerplant is merely one aspect of a complex machine that requires patience and resources to construct. Aircraft carriers take years to construct and consist of catapult systems, arresting systems, sophisticated electronic equipment, elevators, and crew quarters sufficient to sustain life for thousands of sailors, all in addition to the propulsion system. 

And to date, the Chinese have only built one aircraft carrier domestically: the Type 003 Fujian. The Fujian, and the other two aircraft carriers in the Chinese fleet, both imported, are conventionally powered, and hence limited in range.  

The Chinese are likely years and decades away from being able to match the quality and competency of American aircraft carrier production. But China’s overt naval ambitions, and latent economic and military power, suggest the potential for an impressive naval fleet sometime in the future.   

What You Need to Know

Harrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken. 

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