China Leads Global Nuclear Buildout With 39 Reactors Under Construction

China is running away with the global nuclear buildout. According to the World Nuclear Association, China currently has 39 reactors under construction, more than the rest of the top ten countries combined.

The global construction league table

The full country breakdown puts China at 39, India at 8, Russia at 7, Egypt at 4, Türkiye at 4, and South Korea at 4. Bangladesh, Japan, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom each have 2, with Argentina, Brazil, Iran, Pakistan, Slovakia, and Hungary rounding out the list at 1 apiece.

As of April 2026, 74 reactors are under construction in 13 countries (excluding suspended projects in Japan, Ukraine and Brazil), while roughly 120 more are planned, according to the same data set.

China is in a category of its own

China dominates by a wide margin, with 39 reactors under construction and another 41 planned, underscoring its central role in global nuclear expansion and, more broadly, in meeting rising energy demand.

Between 2019 and 2024, approval was given for the construction of 46 new reactors in China. In April 2025, China’s State Council approved construction of a further ten new reactors at Fangchenggang Phase III, Haiyang Phase III, Sanmen Phase III, Taishan Phase II and Xiapu Phase I.

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The West is largely absent

As of September 2025, the United States, France, and Canada have no reactors under construction. That leaves the Western nuclear supply chain reliant on life extensions, restarts, and small modular reactor (SMR) development to keep pace with rising power demand from AI data centers and electrification.

Meanwhile, Russia follows at a distance, combining a smaller domestic pipeline of 7 reactors under construction with a large number of planned projects at 23, extending its influence via reactor exports.

Why traders should care

The pipeline sets the demand curve for uranium, enrichment services, reactor components, and engineering contracts for the next decade. A concentrated buildout in China also has geopolitical implications for fuel sourcing and technology transfer.

With India also standing out, with 8 reactors under construction and 14 more planned as it seeks to scale up its nuclear capacity, the Asia-heavy pipeline reinforces uranium as a multi-year structural theme.

Options market and stocks to watch

Watch for flow and positioning in these nuclear-adjacent names as the buildout headlines continue:

• CCJ: Cameco is a primary uranium producer with direct leverage to fuel demand from new reactors.
• LEU: Centrus Energy is tied to enrichment capacity, including HALEU for advanced reactors.
• BWXT: BWX Technologies supplies reactor components and has SMR exposure.
• SMR: NuScale is a pure-play small modular reactor developer.
• URA: The uranium miners ETF captures the broader basket if the theme keeps running.

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