Nuclear power generation accelerates as nation aims to cut emissions

China's approval to resume new nuclear power station construction comes amid rising demand for the reduction of carbon emissions and the development of reliable energy that's needed as a growing economic powerhouse.

Experts have predicted that China will surpass the US in installed nuclear power generating capacity within the next decade.

A meeting of the State Council, China's Cabinet, on Wednesday approved the Hainan Changjiang Nuclear Power Phase II project, which has been included in the national plan and will adopt the Hualong One third-generation nuclear power technology, and the Zhejiang Sanao nuclear Power Phase I project, in which private capital is being invested for the first time, according to the report.

The approval of four nuclear power units, which adopt the Hualong One technology, shows that China's third-generation nuclear power technology, Hualong One, with its own intellectual property rights, has entered mass production, Yang Bo, spokesperson of the China Nuclear Energy Association (CNEA), told the Global Times on Thursday.

The Chinese mainland has 62 nuclear power units under construction — including those approved but not yet started — with a total planned installed capacity of 65.93 million kilowatts, according to a statement that the CNEA sent to the Global Times on Thursday.

China will maintain a safe, stable and sustainable pace of nuclear power development, and start construction of six to eight units every year to achieve safe, efficient and sustainable development of nuclear power in China, said Yang.

"From the overall energy consumption point of view, China has been transforming its energy industry by cutting the use of coal and increasing investment in green energy. Compared with solar and wind, nuclear power is more reliable," Zhou Hongchun, a research fellow with the Development Research Center of the State Council, told the Global Times.

Experts said that the resumption of nuclear power approvals by the government will accelerate the industrial development that is enabling China to narrow the gap with other large nuclear power states.

China has 47 nuclear power units in operation, with total installed capacity of 48.75 gigawatts, ranking third in the world after the US and France, the CNEA said.

Experts have predicted that China's nuclear power generation capacity will reach the current world average level by 2035. The US currently operates 95 nuclear power units with an installed capacity of nearly 100 million kilowatt, which shows a big gap between China and the US in terms of installed capacity and electricity generation, Yang said.

After Japan's Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, the Chinese government halted approvals for new domestic nuclear power projects.

Zhou said that some issues may still need to be resolved, such as the guarantee of fuel sources such as Uranium-235, which must still be imported, and the safe management of nuclear plants as well as the appropriate treatment of spent nuclear fuel.