China's Nuclear Energy Program

During the 2020s the People's Republic of China may become leading country in the world in the deployment of nuclear technology for generating electricity. Whether this happens will depend on decisions China makes during the next decade concerning technology development and choice, the role of market forces in the electricity supply and distribution system, risk assessment and management, government support for industry, the nuclear fuel cycle and waste management, macroeconomic management, environmental policies, and international relations. In 2013-2019 Mr. Hibbs carried out a project supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to examine the future prospects and challenges for nuclear power in China. The project was based upon policy research in China and elsewhere and included workshops conducted in Beijing, Xiamen, and Berlin to discuss with Chinese and foreign industry executives, government officials, nuclear R&D scientists, and other experts issues that will shape the decision making in China about its nuclear power program through mid-century.

Mark Hibbs is a senior fellow in Nuclear Policy Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, based in Berlin and Bonn, Germany. Before joining Carnegie in 2010 he was an editor and correspondent in the field of nuclear energy, nuclear trade, and nonproliferation. His work appeared in a number of publications, including the Financial Times organization, Nucleonics Week, and Nuclear Fuel. Hibbs' research is focused broadly on international nuclear trade and nonproliferation governance in four main areas: the international nuclear trade regime, decision-making at the International Atomic Energy Agency, nuclear safeguards and verification, and bilateral nuclear cooperation arrangements. Hibbs also works on policy concerning the generation of nuclear power. Since 2012, Hibbs has led a project at Carnegie concerning the future of China's nuclear energy program, its nuclear fuel cycle, and spent fuel management policies. In 2018 Hibbs published the report from this project as a book: The Future of Nuclear Power in China; the Mandarin-language version of this report was published in China in 2019.