The heating project of the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province Photo: VCG

The Chinese government firmly supports the active and orderly development of nuclear power and vigorously promoting technological advances and industrial development in this field on the premise of ensuring absolute security, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in a congratulatory letter sent to the 23th Pacific Basin Nuclear Conference on Wednesday.

Li further stressed that China is willing to work with other countries to deepen international exchanges and cooperation in nuclear power on the basis of equality and mutual benefits to facilitate the transformation of economic and social development and deliver more benefits to people of all countries, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The 23th Pacific Basin Nuclear Conference, under the theme of "Nuclear innovation for zero-carbon future," is held in Beijing and Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan from Tuesday to Friday.

At the conference, Wang Shoujun, chairman of the Chinese Nuclear Society, said that China will accelerate the expansion of the installed scale of nuclear power units and maintain the pace of approval in starting construction on six to eight nuclear power units per year.

According to Wang, 10 nuclear power units have been approved this year. As of June, China was home to 53 nuclear power units in operation and 23 units under construction, with the number of nuclear power units under construction ranking first in the world.

It is forecast that by 2035, the share of nuclear power in China's total power generation will reach about 10 percent, Wang stated.

Currently, the country's installed capacity of nuclear power generation units in operation amounts to approximately 55 million kilowatts. In 2021, China's nuclear power generation capacity reached 407.5 billion kilowatt-hours, equivalent to a reduction of 1.2 billion tons of coal and 3.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

"China's nuclear power industry is growing at the fastest pace in the world while ensuring safety," Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

In recent years, the country's nuclear power design, construction and equipment manufacturing have all improved, and nuclear energy heating and other clean energy projects are advancing on schedule.

On Tuesday, a heating project that is part of the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in Northeast China's Liaoning Province was officially put into use. The project will provide clean, zero-carbon heating to local residents this winter.

China's nuclear power technology industry has completed the transformation and upgrading from the second generation to the more advanced third generation. 

For instance, both domestic and international reactor projects that are part of the Hualong 1 have been fully completed and put into commercial operation. The Guohe No.1 nuclear power unit is progressing in an orderly manner, and is expected to be completed and put into operation in 2023.

Lin noted that some coastal areas such as East China's Fujian Province and South China's Guangdong Province, where nuclear power is well-developed, will enhance the development of the nuclear power industry and accelerate the globalization pace of the country's advanced nuclear power technology.

"China's nuclear energy and nuclear fuel cycle technology sector will maintain high investment in research and development to promote technological innovation and contribute to the development of the global nuclear energy," Wang said.

Global Times