The core module of world's first commercial small modular reactor (SMR) passed the final acceptance in China on Thursday, marking a breakthrough in the SMR technological innovation and the localization of major technical equipment for nuclear power.

The multi-purpose, small modular pressurized water reactor, known as Linglong One (ACP100), features outstanding advantages including short manufacturing cycle, high security, wide use, flexible deployment, high equipment maturity, and good engineering implementation.

With a power generation capacity of 125 megawatts, Linglong One can generate 1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year once completed, which can enable the need of 526,000 households, and is equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 880,000 tonnes, or planting 7.5 million trees, said the developer China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).

It can meet the diverse energy demands in multiple scenarios like seawater desalination, urban district heating, industrial steam supply and oil extraction.

The promotion of the SMR can optimize China's energy structure, reduce the consumption of fossil energy and greatly promote energy conservation and emission reduction, facilitating the efforts towards the country's goals of reaching peak carbon emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, said CNNC.

As the world's first such type of nuclear reactor approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Linglong One reactor is another major achievement of independent innovation after "Hualong One," a China-designed third-generation nuclear reactor.

SMRs, including microreactors, are expected to play an increasingly important role in ensuring energy security, as well as the global energy transition to net zero carbon, according to IAEA.

"Taking Hainan Island as an example, we used to rely on coal, oil and gas, and we got a relatively higher cost of transporting them. Nuclear energy offers a new option. During the global energy crisis in recent years, many countries have been considering using the SMR technology," Qu Yong, deputy chief engineer at Hainan Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. told CGTN.

With the delivery of Linglong One's core module, China's nuclear power technology and equipment manufacturing has achieved "a historic leap from a follower to a leader," which will drive the high-level development of China's nuclear-related industrial clusters, China Media Group reported.