Exclusive interview with China's nuclear power expert: 4th-gen units are taking shape

During this year's Two Sessions, Xu Pengfei, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee and the chairman of the China Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation (CNPE), gave an exclusive interview to CGTN on China's latest progress in nuclear energy.

Xu introduced his proposals for this year's political season, along with the construction of Hualong-1 nuclear power units, the breakthroughs with the fourth-generation reactors and China's involvement in research work on fusion reaction.

Two proposals on nuclear energy

Xu said the first proposal is to establish a national research and development base for radiation protection. "While we have safety designs for nuclear energy facilities, we stress radiation protection and how to minimize the effect of emergency situations," he said.

"This will be a strong way of dispelling the public's confusion about nuclear energy."

The second proposal is for the establishment of a national data center to share information about all nuclear facilities. "This is to make these data much more useful," he added.

Hualong-1, in batches

Almost three years after the commercial operation of the first Hualong-1 nuclear power unit, Xu mentioned the performance of such units built by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).

"Now, Hualong-1 (units) of CNNC in operation in China are number 5 and number 6 units in the Fuqing power plant in the southeastern part of the country. Besides, we have two other units overseas in Karachi, Pakistan. They all perform well," Xu said, adding that five more such units of CNNC are under construction.

"So far, more than 90 percent of the equipment and components are domestically supplied," he told CGTN. "For the follow-up Hualong series, the designs for efficiency, safety and environmental friendliness are our main concerns."

The chairman said that digital transformation is the most important part of the research and development of nuclear power, and there is no doubt that the follow-up Hualong will be smarter.

Fourth-generation units taking shape

In China, breakthroughs have been made in the construction and operation of fourth-generation nuclear power units, with the world's first demonstration project of such units put into commercial operation in Shidaowan, eastern China's Shandong Province, in December 2023.

"The fourth-generation reactors are in discussion and research. China is at the forefront, having a milestone in the commercial operation of the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor," he said.

According to him, the country will innovate and upgrade the product and construct it in batches.

"We are also working on the small modular reactor as a general contractor, building a demonstration 'Linglong-1' project in Changjiang, Hainan Province, which is expected to be connected to the grid in 2026," he said.

He added that the small modular reactor is smaller and smarter in modular design and can be used for power generation, heating and hydrogen production."

China's contribution to 'artificial sun'

China has made an important contribution to the research and development of the "artificial sun" – the nuclear fusion reactor, with CNNC participating in one of the installations of the very core part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in France, in which dozens of countries are participating.

"On February 29, we signed another big contract with the ITER organization," Xu said. "So far, with both contracts, we are one of the contractors for installation and management of the most important key components of the project ITER."

"The whole world is working on fusion reaction, including China. I hope that in the coming future, China could have electricity generated by such reactors."