China’s Hualong One nuclear reactor goes into service

China now ‘a country that has truly mastered independent third-generation nuclear power technology’, CNNC party chief says
Almost 90 per cent of the equipment used in Hualong One, including all elements of its core, was made in China, company says

US-China relations

Amanda Lee

Published: 3:00pm, 31 Jan 2021

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The first of China’s Hualong One third-generation pressurised water nuclear reactors went into commercial operation on Saturday, according to its developer China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).

Construction of the home-grown reactor in Fuqing in the southeastern province of Fujian began in 2015 and it was connected to the grid in November last year.

“China has become a country that has truly mastered independent third-generation nuclear power technology after the United States, France and Russia,” Yu Jianfeng, CNNC’s Communist Party secretary, said in a statement.

Almost 90 per cent of the equipment used in Hualong One, including all elements of its core, was made in China, CNNC said.

“We must not only export our own nuclear power but also build it according to our own standards, so that we can’t be controlled by others,” chief designer Xing Ji said.

China is the world’s third-largest producer of nuclear power, with its 49 operational reactors boasting 51 gigawatts of capacity last year. A further 19 reactors are under construction, which once completed will add 20.9GW of capacity, according to the China Nuclear Energy Association (CNEA).

Almost 90 per cent of the equipment used in Hualong One, including all elements of its core, was made in China, CNNC said. Photo: Xinhua

In the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster in Japan and slow progress on the development of third-generation reactors, including the Hualong One and American firm Westinghouse’s AP1000, China did not approve any new reactors between 2016 and 2018.

But it is expected to ramp up its nuclear power programme in the coming years to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.

Chen Hua, vice-president of the CNEA, said in September that by 2025 China expected to have 70GW of nuclear power capacity in operation and 40GW under construction.

That would account for about 6 per cent of the country’s total electricity generating capacity, with the figure rising to 10 per cent by 2035.

CNNC said the Hualong One project in Fuqing, where construction of a second unit is set to be completed this year, would help China improve its energy mix and reach carbon neutrality. Both units are designed to have a 60-year lifespan, it said.

According to Xinhua, each of the two units has the capacity to produce 10 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, or about enough to power a country with a population of 1 million.

Besides serving its domestic requirements, China is also offering incentives to drive sales of its nuclear power technology overseas and has found buyers in several countries, especially those involved in its Belt and Road Initiative, like Pakistan.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: First of latest generation Hualong One nuclear reactors goes into service