Nuclear power generation in Fujian, Liaoning and Hainan Province accounted for more than 20%, accounting for 27.3%, 23.4%, and 22.7% respectively.

China Nuclear Energy Development Report (2024) released by the China Nuclear Energy Industry Association on April 15 (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") shows that in 2023, China's commercial nuclear power units will continue to maintain safe and stable operation. Two new commercial nuclear power units will be added throughout the year, reaching 55 units, with a rated installed capacity of 57.03 million kilowatts, ranking third in the world; The average utilization hours of nuclear power equipment throughout the year were 7661 hours, and the nuclear power generation capacity was 433.4 billion kilowatt hours, ranking second in the world, accounting for 4.86% of the country's cumulative power generation. The annual equivalent emission reduction of carbon dioxide emissions was approximately 340 million tons, of which ** Fujian, Liaoning, and Hainan Province accounted for more than 20%, ** 27.3%, 23.4%, and 22.7% respectively.

In terms of operational performance, according to Wang Yiren, chief expert of the China Nuclear Energy Development Report and former deputy director of the National Atomic Energy Agency, in 2023, a total of 33 units in China will achieve full marks in the comprehensive index of the World Nuclear Power Operators Association, and the full mark ratio and the average of the comprehensive index are among the top in the world.

“2023年，中国在建核电工程稳步推进，全年新开工核电机组5台，核电工程建设投资完成额949亿元，创近五年最高水平。截至2023年底，在建核电机组26台， The total installed capacity is 30.3 million kilowatts，位居全球第一。” 王毅韧介绍。

What are the situations and challenges facing the sustainable development of China's nuclear energy industry?

The "Report" pointed out that the current development of China's nuclear power still has problems such as the mismatch between the installed capacity of nuclear power and the requirements for achieving the "double carbon" goal, the existing nuclear power construction layout cannot adapt to the requirements of building a new power system, and the comprehensive utilization of nuclear energy has not yet formed an industrial scale; Facing the goal of carbon neutrality, nuclear energy development still faces challenges in terms of uranium resource supply guarantee and spent fuel safety management, and the closed cycle of nuclear fuel and the commercial application of fast reactor technology still faces some key technical bottlenecks; China has built a national carbon emissions trading market and carried out green certificate trading and green power trading pilots. However, none of the existing green and low-carbon trading systems include nuclear power, and the clean and low-carbon nature of nuclear power has not been fully reflected; China's nuclear technology application industry started late, with an output value of nearly 700 billion yuan in 2022 (accounting for about 5.7‰ of GDP), which is far behind the proportion of the United States and Europe; at present, China's nuclear-related public communication still faces urgent needs to improve nuclear-related laws and regulations, nuclear science popularization still needs to be strengthened, and nuclear-related public opinion risks still exist.

In response to the above challenges, Wang Yiren combined the "Report" to put forward suggestions from five aspects:

Regarding the continued large-scale development of nuclear energy, it is recommended:Adhere to the world's highest safety standards and requirements, stably maintain the pace of nuclear power approval, and continue the large-scale development of nuclear power; optimize the layout of nuclear power and start the construction of nuclear power projects as soon as possible for Central China provinces with prominent power supply gaps; create a number of "nuclear, water, wind and solar storage" Integrated demonstration projects to optimize the layout of China's nuclear power projects; do a good job in connecting and planning the coordinated development of nuclear energy and related industries, and promote the large-scale application of comprehensive utilization of nuclear energy according to local conditions.

Strengthen the leadership of scientific and technological innovation, it is recommended:Strengthen national top-level coordination, formulate the "Three-Step" Development Strategy for Nuclear Energy ", clarify development goals, paths and priorities, and promote basic research and development and the implementation of key projects; through design optimization, continue to improve the economy and safety of independent third-generation large pressurized water reactor nuclear power plants and small modular reactors; Implement major scientific and technological special traction, and incorporate the integrated closed sodium-cooled fast reactor demonstration project and China fusion engineering test reactor into major national scientific and technological special projects; Basic scientific research conditions will be optimized and large-scale nuclear scientific research infrastructure such as ultra-high flux fast neutron research reactors and reprocessing scientific research facilities will be constructed.

Regarding promoting the inclusion of nuclear energy into the green and low-carbon policy system, it is recommended:Clarify the clean and low-carbon attributes of nuclear power and the positioning of similar attributes of renewable energy in the process of formulating and improving the relevant policy system of "double carbon" supporting; establish a certificate system suitable for nuclear power and low-carbon power as soon as possible, and merge it with green power certificates in a timely manner; Promote a new generation of advanced nuclear energy systems and small reactor projects to enter the carbon market through CCER; strengthen cooperation with international organizations such as the IAEA and major nuclear power countries such as the United States and France to jointly promote international mutual recognition of nuclear energy as low-carbon energy consumption.

In terms of promoting the development of the nuclear technology application industry, it is recommended:Strengthen the top-level coordination of the development of China's nuclear technology application industry, compile the "Medium and Long-term Development Plan for the Nuclear Technology Application Industry", and issue guidance documents for development planning in nuclear technology application sub-fields; further strengthen the construction and investment of basic innovation capabilities, and study and establish nuclear technology application scientific research projects and build a number of breakthrough, platform-based, and integrated nuclear technology application scientific research institutions and advanced scientific research facility clusters; Formulate and issue relevant support policies, encourage private capital investment, continuously improve and improve market mechanisms, and continue to expand the scale of industrial development.

In terms of nuclear-related public communication, recommendations:Promulgate the "Atomic Energy Law" as soon as possible to accelerate the improvement of the nuclear-related laws and regulations system; innovate and build a nuclear knowledge popularization platform, comprehensively use advanced technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, and carry out scientific and refined nuclear-related public communication; strengthen the monitoring and judgment of nuclear-related public opinion, standardize public opinion response mechanisms and measures; promote the establishment of "Nuclear Science Day" to create a good social environment for China's nuclear energy science popularization.