The Shidaowan Nuclear Power Plant in Rongcheng, Shandong province, which uses a high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactor (HTGR), entered commercial service following a 168-hour trial, according to the National Energy Administration (NEA) and China Huaneng Group, its lead operator. It is the world's first fourth-generation (4G) nuclear power plant and uses China's own intellectual property rights, reflecting the nation's global leading position in 4G nuclear power technology, said the NEA. Around 93.4% of its components have been sourced domestically. The HTGR is a globally recognized advanced nuclear reactor, and represents the future direction of the nuclear power industry, said Zhang Zuoyi, Chief Designer of the project, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The HTGR will be safe even if all cooling fails and without taking any intervention measures, and accidents such as reactor core meltdowns or radioactive material releases won't happen, Zhang said.
According to the NEA, the Shidaowan Nuclear Power Plant is a commercial demonstration project for HTGR technology. Experts said the plant's commercial operation will promote the safe development of China's nuclear power industry and innovation ability in related technologies. Compared with other clean power sources such as solar, wind and hydro, nuclear power is more stable and cost-effective, Lin Boqiang, Director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times. While third-generation nuclear power plants have been deployed in multiple provinces and have realized stable profits, the 4th generation nuclear power plant which is at the early and trial application stage will enjoy promising prospects in the future when its construction and operation costs are further reduced, Lin said.
China Huaneng Group Co, Tsinghua University and China National Nuclear Corp started construction of the plant, with a capacity of 200,000 kilowatts, in December 2012. It was first linked to the power grid in December 2021. The power plant was the collaborative effort of more than 500 companies across the industry chain, including design, research and development (R&D), construction, component manufacturing and operations management, with the localization rate of equipment exceeding 90%. China Huaneng Group Co and Tsinghua University together developed six core technologies, fostered a group of experienced talent and formed a reproducible operation mechanism with independent intellectual property rights.
Amid China's effort in achieving carbon emission reduction, the installed capacity of renewable energy power generation nationwide reached a new high, exceeding 1.4 billion kilowatts by the end of October, reaching 1.404 billion kilowatts, an increase of 20.8% year-on-year, accounting for about 49.9% of the country's total installed power generation capacity. From January to October 2023, China installed 2.81 billion kilowatts of power generation capacity, up 12.6% year-on-year. The capacity of nuclear power stood at 56.76 million kilowatts, up 2.2% year-on-year, accounting for about 2% of all power generation capacity, NEA data showed, as reported by the Global Times and the China Daily.
