The global dash to reboot the nuclear power industry accelerated. Britain moved to extend the life of a major reactor by 20 years , seeking to bridge a multi-year gap between its older generation facilities retiring and new ones opening, and Japan’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, the world’s largest, restarts operations today after 15 years. Building new nuclear sites faces political and regulatory hurdles: France’s EDF churned out dozens in the 1980s, taking just six years for each. Its most recent took 16 years, and the company is turning to China to relearn “ nimble construction ,” the Financial Times reported. The Chinese industry has no such problems: It is constructing 35 units , each expected to take about five years. The US is building zero . — Tom Chivers