Homegrown nuclear tech gets impetus

Nuclear projects in the country will focus on the large-scale and mass production of domestically developed third-generation reactors including Hualong One, which is already officially in mass production, it said.

Wang Yingsu, secretary-general of the nuclear power branch of the China Electric Power Promotion Council, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying that technology localization, development of homegrown nuclear power technology and the capability of constructing and operating nuclear power plants independently have always been China's goals since it began its nuclear power program more than 50 years ago.

Wang said more power plants will choose Hualong One in the future because it's China's independently developed technology and is equal to foreign technology.

According to Wei, renewable energy is also rising up as a challenge to further nuclear development because wind and solar are demonstrating declining costs that undercut nuclear, and they can serve an increasingly decentralized power system without dependence on a single large unit.

Nuclear reactors may also be restricted by availability of coastlines, while non-nuclear renewables can be located literally anywhere, he added.

However, Zheng Mingguang, chief engineer at China's State Power Investment Corporation, said that the nuclear power generation price in China is not as high as the cost of renewable energy sources and increasing demand for power will provide big opportunities for nuclear power.

Zheng expects that the country will develop nuclear power more actively in the future as both the use of large and small-scale reactors will find applications in China beyond just electricity generation.

As China is readying for nuclear power expansion, big reactors will be used to supply electricity and smaller facilities will provide multiple applications. It can also be used for non-power applications such as heat, steam supply, hydrogen production and desalination, he said.

Zheng added that establishing a complete supply chain has also helped the nuclear power industry in China.

The country is expected to have total installed capacity of 70 GW of nuclear facilities under operation by the end of 2025, and 30 GW under construction. The combined figure of installed capacity both under construction and in operation will reach 200 GW by 2035.

According to Joseph Jacobelli, an independent energy analyst and executive vice-president for Asia business at Cenfura Ltd, a global renewable energy company, as nuclear reactors will be potentially operational for as long as 50 years, careful planning and checks are imperative for China.

He said China's nuclear sector has risen from novice to expert as Chinese nuclear experts have mastered the core technologies of third-generation nuclear reactors, and are able to provide strong technical support.

China topped the world in terms of installed capacity of nuclear power units under construction in 2019.By the end of last year, China had 13 nuclear power units under construction, with the country's independent research and manufacturing continuing to increase, according to the association.

In 2019, 39 units of main nuclear power facilities were independently designed and successfully handed over to clients.

Nuclear power accounted for about 5 percent of total power generated in China in 2019.

Qiu Jiangang, deputy head of the experts committee with the China Nuclear Energy Association, said the focus of nuclear construction around the world is expected to shift from developed to developing countries, and the focus over the next five years should be on coastal regions as major locations for nuclear project construction, while inland provinces including Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi should also plan in advance to ensure nuclear power generation.