China leads world in nuclear power plant technology

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By CGTN's Hu Nan

China now leads the world's third-generation nuclear power plant technology by developing the CAP1400 of 1,400 MWe capacity, the world's most advanced nuclear power plant model.

China owns the intellectual property rights for such designs.

It took eight years of hard work, over 20,000 top researchers nationwide, and a 10-billion-yuan national fund to create the CAP1400.

In March 2017, the first CAP1400 reactor pressure vessel passed tests.

The exterior of CAP1400 nuclear power plant. /CGTN Photo

Westinghouse Electric Corporation, the nuclear developer, announced in 2008 that it was working with the State Nuclear Power Technology Company (SNPTC) and Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute (SNERDI) to jointly develop a passively safe 1,400 to 1,500 MWe design for large-scale deployment, which is one of teh 16 Key National Projects in China.

This development with the SNERDI opens up the possibility of China itself exporting the new larger units with Westinghouse’s cooperation.

CAP1400 maximum power capacity. /CGTN Photo

China is behind 40 percent of world's nuclear power plants undergoing construction, and the mature construction experience and advanced technology is going global.

In May 2017, China and Argentina inked a 12-billion-US-dollar contract on nuclear energy cooperation, and several third-generation nuclear power plants are under construction in Pakistan with China's assistance.

Nuclear technology is expected to be China's second most high-tech exported item, following high-speed railways.

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