The United States is more than a decade behind China in its development of high-tech nuclear power generation, a new report found, illustrating the growing divide between the world’s two largest economies as they race to meet ambitious targets for carbon-free power generation and deploy next-generation reactors.

According to the report published by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation think tank, China currently has 27 nuclear reactors under construction, more than twice the number of projects in any other country. Projects there take an average of seven years, the report said, a much shorter timeline than in the U.S. or other Western countries.

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