Abstract: It is a consensus of international society to promote the development of low carbon economy in order to face the challenges of climate change. According to the features of nuclear energy, the greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions of nuclear energy chain and other energy chains are compared and analyzed, and the results indicate that the GHGs emission of nuclear power chain is the least in all types of power generation. The status of nuclear power development and GHGs emission reduction in major nuclear power countries of the world is presented, and the potential benefits of GHGs emission reduction by developing nuclear power in China are also analyzed. Active nuclear power development is one of the reasonable choices for constructing the low-carbon energy structure and for addressing climate change in China.

Key words: nuclear power, GHGs emission, climate change