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“China is the de facto world leader in nuclear technology at the moment.” ~ Jacopo Buongiorno, Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

What’s bigger than the AI race, DeepSeek, and OpenAI?

The energy needed to power them.

To be accurate, China only generates 5% of the world’s nuclear power, while the US generates around 30% – big difference.

Yet, even though China is behind in the amount of nuclear energy generated in comparison to the US, they’re still winning the race.

They’re winning in research, and in the development of nuclear power plants.

Here’s the latest and biggest research example.

OilPrice.com reports:

China Breaks Nuclear Fusion Record, Again

“Chinese researchers from the Institute of Plasma Physics (ASIPP) at the Hefei Institute of Physical Science have managed to sustain a nuclear fusion reaction at a temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius for 1,066 seconds, breaking their previous record of 403 seconds they set in April 2023. 

The achievement by China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) marks yet another milestone in the country’s quest to win the ongoing nuclear fusion race among China, the United States, Japan, South Korea and the European Union.

It’s been seven decades ever since scientists started working on nuclear fusion technology, with the allure of almost limitless clean energy proving too powerful to resist. 

The U.S. was among the world’s first countries to bet big on this futuristic gambit, working on fusion research in earnest since the early 1950s with China’s foray coming much later. 

However, China has been making rapid progress over the past decade, and now owns more fusion patents than any other country according to industry data published by Nikkei. 

Further, Beijing is pumping in ~$1.5 billion annually into fusion research, according to Jean Paul Allain, who leads the US Energy Department’s Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, nearly double Washington’s fusion tab at $800 million a year.”

For those following the rise of nuclear energy, China’s dominance is no new revelation.

It is one branch of the globalist’s search for clean, efficient, green energy, but also a result of China’s shift away from coal.

In early 2023, mainstream media’s CNBC reported:

How China became the king of new nuclear power, and how the U.S. is trying to stage a comeback

“China is the breakaway global leader in new nuclear construction.

China has 21 nuclear reactors under construction which will have a capacity for generating more than 21 gigawatts of electricity, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. That is two and a half times more nuclear reactors under construction than any other country.”

And the construction continues to expand on China’s nuclear ambition…

Pushing its nuclear momentum forward as quickly as possible, and in parallel with AI.

In August 2024, World Nuclear News reported even more construction:

China approves 11 new reactors

“From 2019 to 2023, the number of new reactors approved in China was six, four, five, 10 and 10 respectively, “showing an overall positive, safe and orderly development momentum”, state-run China Energy News reported.

At its 19 August meeting, the State Council said that safety is the “lifeline” of nuclear power development. 

“We must continuously improve the level of nuclear power safety technology and risk prevention capabilities, strengthen safety supervision throughout the entire chain and in all areas, ensure that nuclear power is absolutely safe, and promote the long-term and healthy development of the industry,” it said.

According to World Nuclear Association figures, China currently has 56 operable reactors with a total capacity of 54.3 GW. A further 30 reactors, with a total capacity of 32.5 GW, are under construction.”

So, while AI and nuclear are inextricably linked in China’s vision of the future, they’re also part of every other nation’s quest for prosperity and dominance.

What does this mean for your investments?

It doesn’t mean you need to invest in Chinese companies, although that might be an option. Since, we want to stay politically neutral, it means uranium is here to stay.

Supply is lagging behind with years, if not decades of exploration needed for economically viable uranium deposits, and development.

So the search for near term profit can be narrowed down into a few stocks. Stocks ranging from larger uranium miners already in production about to buy up deposits ready for development, and those entering the development stage.

One company in the processing and development stage is Western Uranium and Vanadium (CSE: WUC, about $1 CAD / share).

Their CEO, George Glasier, has 30+ years in uranium and vanadium mining and development. He’s also the former Founder of Energy Fuels Inc., which is currently the largest uranium and vanadium resource holder in the U.S.

And over time, he took a few other top executives with him.
So, there’s good management. The bad news is, at the moment, the company is losing money. However, they have ore bodies ready for full scale production, continue to explore, and are not heavily in debt.

If you’re not into the contrarian investment plays, you can look at the Sprott Uranium ETFs (URNM).

In any event, China and the rest of the are investing heavily in energy technology that depends on uranium.

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