With the installation of the dome on the containment building, all major civil engineering works have been completed at Unit 5 of the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant developed by China's State Power Investment Corp, located Northeast China's Liaoning province. [File Photo]

China is becoming the global center of the nuclear power industry while realizing its goal of optimizing its energy structure and promoting social development, Li Guanxing, director of the Chinese Nuclear Society, said Monday.

“As a clean, safe, and efficient source of energy, nuclear power has become an important factor in the global trend of promoting low-carbon, sustainable development,” Li said during the 25th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering. The conference in Shanghai opened on Sunday and will end on Friday.

The Chinese mainland has 36 nuclear power units in service, with 20 more under construction. Total installed capacity is about 56.94 million kilowatts, which shows the massive scale of China’s nuclear power sector, Li said.

Capacity is expected to reach 88 million kilowatts by 2020, he added.

“The development of China’s nuclear sector will strengthen innovation and industrial upgrading over the next five years, enhancing nuclear safety and forging the Chinese brand,” Wang Yiren, deputy director of the China Atomic Energy Authority, said at the conference.

The International Conference on Nuclear Engineering is the world’s most influential conference in nuclear engineering, and is known as the “Olympics” in the field. This year’s gathering rallied more than 1,000 representatives from around the globe. It was co-sponsored by the Chinese Nuclear Society, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, and a research and design institute affiliated with the State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), one of the top five power generators in China.

At the conference, SPIC Chairman Wang Binghua delivered a keynote speech, stating that China has developed a home-grown, third-generation nuclear power supply chain, with AP1000 and CAP1400 pilot projects undergoing smooth process.

SPIC Chairman Wang Binghua delivers keynote speech.

In his speech titled, “The Development of Advanced Passive Nuclear Power Technology in China,” he said that the past decade was an important period for the development of China’s third-generation nuclear power technology. The SPIC-owned State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) has deepened cooperation with Chinese and foreign partners and overcome various difficulties and challenges to make this new technology possible. Hot functional tests on the first units of the Sanmen and Haiyang nuclear power plants have passed, and the independently researched and developed CAP1400 demonstration project is ready for construction.

Wang Binghua emphasized that “leading nuclear power development and providing clean energy” is the mission of SNPTC. The company is devoted to “innovation, sharing, cooperation, and win-win” and to creating value for clients with advanced technology, mature project construction and management abilities, stable and high-efficient supply systems, and localization experience, as well as with investment and financing capacities, to make greater contributions to the safe development of global nuclear power with advanced passive nuclear power technology.

During the conference, SNPTC demonstrated its technical competence and performance, attracting widespread attention from attending parties.