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China wants to dominate the South Sea with floating nuclear power plants to supply artificial military islands with energy. Explore how this strategy impacts territorial disputes and the response of the United States and allies.
Authorities fear nuclear plants could power military bases on artificial islands built by China in the region.
China is moving forward with its plans to develop floating nuclear power plants to provide energy to the military installations it built in disputed areas of the South China Sea. The information is from Newsweek magazine.
Western Pacific Control Strategy
The measure is an important part of Beijing's strategy to gain control in the Western Pacific, worrying countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, with whom it competes for the region that is the target of geopolitical disputes and has routes with an annual flow of trade. of US$3,4 trillion.
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China began building floating nuclear power plants in 2016, with plans to deploy up to 20 of them in the South China Sea. In the same year, an international court considered China's construction in the region illegal. The project was suspended in May 2023 due to security concerns.
Mobile Nuclear Power Banks
These reactors, known as mobile “power banks,” are small plants designed to be installed on ships, providing power to Chinese artificial islands with military infrastructure, such as airports. These reactors are estimated to operate at about 25% of the capacity of a standard land-based nuclear power plant, and Beijing currently has 37 such plants.
Amid rising tensions in the South China Sea, researchers from a state-backed Chinese think tank highlighted in a 2020 paper that these reactors could “ensure the smooth conduct of military exercises.”
International Reactions
The plans have increased tensions in the region, especially between other nations that also claim parts of the South China Sea, such as the Philippines. Jonathan Malaya, assistant director general of the Philippine National Security Council, told local media: “Any measure that supports the military presence in these islands is a threat to our national security and interests.”
Malaya also highlighted that the United States and other Western nations, including Australia, are expected to step up their joint patrols in the South China Sea to counterbalance China's growing influence.
Security Guidelines
Amid this situation, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) advocates the implementation of strict international guidelines to ensure the safe operation of nuclear reactors in maritime environments.
Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told the reporter that China is collaborating with Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries to “promote peace and stability in the South China Sea”, aiming to transform it into “a region of peace, cooperation and prosperity”. He also pointed out that some countries often use China as “an excuse to reinforce their military activities in the region, seeking to maintain their maritime supremacy.”
Heavily Armed
For nearly a decade, Beijing has been working on building artificial islands on remote atolls and coral reefs in the South China Sea. These islands include ports, airstrips, barracks and hangars. Despite a promise made by President Xi Jinping in 2015 that the islands would not be militarized, China has installed anti-ship and anti-aircraft batteries on the largest islands, Subi, Mischief and Fiery Cross Reefs. Additionally, China has been using these islands to land aircraft and dock warships, which has worried the US and regional allies.
Russian Floating Nuclear Power Plant
According to The Washington Post, Russia is the only country that has a floating nuclear power plant, called Akademik Lomonosov, which was put into operation in December 2019. Photos of the installation reveal a multi-story plant on a non-motorized barge. According to IEEE Spectrum, this plant is made up of two KLT-40S pressurized water reactors, similar to those used in Russian nuclear icebreakers, and two steam turbine plants.
Strategic Importance
Over the past decade, the South China Sea has been the site of numerous territorial disputes between China and other Southeast Asian claimants, as well as a geopolitical dispute with the United States over freedom of navigation in the contested waters.
The Chinese have expanded their claims over virtually the entire South China Sea and built island bases there on coral atolls over the past ten years. Washington responded by sending warships to the region, in what it classifies as “freedom of operation missions”.
Although the US has no territorial claims in the area, the US government has sent Navy ships and aircraft to patrol for decades, with the aim of promoting free navigation in international waterways and airspace.
