BEIJING- The International Energy Agency (IEA) says China will surpass theUnited States to become the world’s largest nuclear power producer over thenext two decades as Beijing is set to more than triple its nuclear energycapacity.

In a report published on Saturday, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol saidChina would exceed US in nuclear power production in the next 20 yearsfollowing recent initiatives taken by Beijing to expedite the adoption ofalternative fuel source.

“China is coming back strong. Today there are about 60 nuclear power plantsunder construction and more than one-third of them are in China. China isgrowing and as a result of that we will soon see China overtaking theUnited States as the number 1 nuclear power in the world,” the reportquoted Birol as saying.

The IEA executive director said the US had been the global leader innuclear power since the 1960s, but said two trends could knock the countryout of the top spot.

The first is that very few additions to the US nuclear capacity have beenmade in recent years, and the second is that there are no lifetimeextensions for the existing power plants, according to Birol.

“If it continues like that, the US nuclear capacity will go from 20 percent[of overall power supply] to 7 percent,” he said, adding that the Americannuclear industry will face the same drawbacks it saw in the solar sector inprevious years.

“I can tell you that what is happening is the same story as we have seen insolar. China is learning by doing, bringing costs down and therefore theyare now ready to export technology and are much more cost effective thanothers. And they challenge the established exporters such as the US, Japan,Korea and European countries,” Birol noted.

The IEA expects the nuclear power capacity in China to make up 4 percent ofthe country’s total power supply in 2040, up from 2 percent in 2016,according to data on the agency’s website, meaning that nuclear capacity isforecast to more than triple from 32.5 GW to 127.52 GW.

Birol also hailed China’s new initiative to use cleaner energy technologiesand repair its current smoggy skies as one of four “major upheavals” thatcould reshape the energy markets throughout the world in the future.

“When China changes, everything changes … The new China energy policiesmean a new phase for the global energy markets,” he added.

The agency released a report on China’s nuclear safety in 2016, saying thatChina’s nuclear safety record had been strong but needed “further work” inareas such as waste management and handling ageing plants.