China releases first software package for nuclear power exports

BEIJING: With plans to build the largest number of nuclear power plants both at home and abroad, China has released the first software package tailored to its own atomic energy technology, a crucial step for nuclear exports.

"This package covers the design, manufacturing, installation, testing and operation of a nuclear power project based on our Hualong-One design. It will pave the way for China to export entire nuclear power projects and technologies," said Luo Qi, head of the China Nuclear Power Institute, one of the software developers under the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) said.

The Hualong-One design is the country's third generation of nuclear reactor designs for safer and more efficient operations that will be widely adopted in both domestic and overseas nuclear power projects.

The software package, called NESTOR, consists of 68 pieces of software that will help with more efficient reactor design, safety analysis, live tests, nuclear refuelling and emergency response systems for a plant based on the Hualong-One design, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The state-owned CNNC invests in, builds and operates nuclear power plants.

The software was developed by CNNC in cooperation with various research institutes, including from Tsinghua University, Xi'an Jiaotong University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

According to Yu Peigen, CNNC deputy general manager, some of the software is already in use by domestic nuclear power plants and developers will keep updating them to match the next generation nuclear power development.

As it restricts usage of coal to cut down greenhouse gases, China plans to build 110 nuclear power plants by 2030, about six to eight nuclear reactors every year, with an investment of $78.8 billion. It looks to overtake the US' 100 nuclear reactors.

China is currently also constructing new 1,100 MW plant in the Pakistani city of Karachi with $6.5 billion assistance which drew criticism from NSG members.

China earlier assisted Pakistan in building four nuclear power plants, two with 300 MW capacity and two other with 320 MW capacity. China has also worked agreements for nuclear power plants in Argentina and Britain.

It plans to increase its electricity generation capacity to 58 gigawatts by 2020, three times the 2014 level.

China currently has 23 nuclear power generating units in operation and 27 under construction, about one-third of the world's unfinished nuclear units.

The construction of new plants resumed after the Chinese government which put the brakes on nuclear power plant approvals after the Fukushima accident in Japan in 2011, permitted resumption after a safety review.