China Is Building a Nuclear Reactor Small Enough to Ride on a Truck

The prototype could bring steady power to remote sites and AI data centers.

China says it is testing a prototype nuclear power system designed to be mounted on a truck — a 10-megawatt unit that researchers describe as a mobile source of long-lasting electricity for places where the grid is weak, absent, or too slow to build.

The prototype was developed by a team at the Institute of Nuclear Energy Safety Technology, part of the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science. Chinese researchers say it could one day power remote regions, islands, ships, emergency sites, ocean and space systems, and even some AI data-center operations.

That’s the pitch, at least. Because not that much information has been made public.

A First of Its Kind

The project is led by Wu Yican, chief scientific adviser to the Institute of Nuclear Energy Safety Technology and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“Our team has built the world’s first 10-megawatt vehicle-mounted nuclear power bank engineering integrated simulation test prototype,” Wu told Science and Technology Daily. “The application of this technology can free people from ‘battery anxiety.’”

The phrase “nuclear power bank” makes the system sound like a giant portable charger. But that comparison only works partially. A battery stores electricity that has already been generated. This system would generate electricity through nuclear reactions.

Ten megawatts is tiny compared with a commercial nuclear plant, which can produce hundreds or even thousands of megawatts. But it’s still a substantial amount, enough to power up to 10,000 homes. At that scale, a reactor could support industrial equipment, isolated infrastructure, military or emergency operations, or some smaller data-center loads. That is, of course, assuming the rest of the system can handle cooling, conversion, redundancy, and safety requirements.

The idea is essentially to build a nuclear alternative to diesel generators. Wu has described the system as “ultra-safe,” compact, and long-lasting. He also said it could operate for decades without refueling. That would be a major advantage over diesel generators, which depend on constant fuel deliveries, especially in remote regions or disaster zones.

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But that’s also where the biggest questions begin.

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What could a mobile reactor actually be used for?

The clearest use cases are places where electricity is expensive because fuel and infrastructure are hard to move: remote islands, isolated communities, mining sites, polar facilities, military bases, and disaster zones.

In those settings, diesel generators are often the default. These diesel generators are easy to deploy, but they burn fuel, require supply chains, and can become a liability during storms, conflict, or other disruptions. A compact nuclear system could, in principle, provide steady power for years with far fewer deliveries.

The team has also floated more ambitious uses, including ship propulsion, space systems, deep-sea exploration, and AI data centers.

So far, however, China has released very little public technical data about the system.

The hard part is not putting it on a truck

They didn’t explain much about the reactor type, fuel form, enrichment level, shielding design, cooling method, waste strategy, accident-response plan, or licensing pathway. Basically, the technical specs are lacking. Without detailed public data, it is difficult to judge whether the prototype is close to real-world deployment or more of a distant target.

Wu’s team has previously worked on a related small reactor concept called CLEAR-M10d, a lead-cooled mini-reactor designed to produce 35 megawatts of thermal power, or 10 megawatts of electricity plus 17 megawatts of heat in cogeneration mode. It’s possible that this is the design meant for this, but we can’t be sure as details are scarce.

Then, the truck itself is a challenge. A mobile nuclear reactor would have to survive crashes, fires, sabotage, extreme weather, maintenance failures, and long-distance transport. It would need enough shielding to protect workers and the public. It would need a secure fuel cycle. It would need a clear plan for spent fuel and radioactive waste. And it would need regulators to decide where, how, and under whose authority it could operate.

None off those are easy to solve. Basically, the word “prototype” is doing a lot of work here.

China’s nuclear ambitions are growing fast

China is already one of the world’s largest nuclear power producers. The International Atomic Energy Agency says China had 58 nuclear power units in commercial operation at the end of 2024, with nuclear power providing 4.47% of the country’s electricity that year. More recent Chinese industry figures cited in public reports say the country operated 59 commercial nuclear units in 2025 and generated 467.7 billion kilowatt-hours of nuclear electricity, or 4.82% of national power generation.

That still leaves nuclear as a relatively small share of China’s electricity mix. But the country is building reactors quickly, and mobile or small-scale nuclear systems could become another branch of that strategy.

Large reactors are designed for national grids. Smaller reactors are pitched as a way to serve more specialized needs: industrial sites, remote settlements, ships, or hard-to-electrify infrastructure.

A truck-mounted system takes that logic even further. Instead of building power plants where people already have transmission lines, the idea is to move the power source to wherever electricity is needed.

Wu said next-generation nuclear systems should be built around “ensuring nuclear safety from the source.” That principle will face its real test only when engineers try to take the reactor from prototype to deployment.