>The US is the world's largest nuclear energy producer, and arguably still possesses the most know-how. We are a one-trick pony. Well, maybe a few tricks, but

>The US is the world's largest nuclear energy producer, and arguably still possesses the most know-how. We are a one-trick pony. Well, maybe a few tricks, but the tricks are all nearly the identical; and we haven't invented a new trick in a long time. Nor are we even working very hard on that front. >Our nuclear energy capacity is five times that of China. We have four times the reactors. And the share of energy we get from nuclear is eight times higher. We have practically frozen nuclear power development. We're bigger in nuclear power because we were first movers. Being a first mover in this space is now turning into a disadvantage though since we can't summon the will to abandon these older, more primitive reactor designs. China currently has ~24 plants approx 24MW/h slated for construction or under construction; many of which are completely new. The US has 4 plants under construction, all of which are simply expansions of existing facilities. Further, most of our US reactors are nearing or past the end of their designed-lifespan. Instead of replacing these aging facilities, we've just been extending the operating permits. We will never hold on to our lead in power generation like that. We'll wind up with a lead in nuclear accidents though, if we aren't careful. I'm not going to get into the fray about political ideologies, any more than to say that China's nuclear energy policy is definitely better than what we have in the US, and probably better than we ever had in the US (since we only ever built (at scale) nuclear plants which support weapons production); as opposed to the Chinese who are exploring just about any promising lead WRT nuclear power generation.