China's third-generation nuclear reactor has been in the spotlight at an ongoing nuclear power exhibition in Beijing.
The chairman of the China Nuclear Energy Association says "the year of 2015 marks an important year for China to resume its nuclear power program after Japan's nuclear crisis."
Earlier this month, the pilot Fuqing nuclear power project in Fujian province, using Hualong One technology, got the green light from the State Council.
Xian Chunyu with the China General Nuclear Power Group, co-designer of Hualong One, expresses his confidence in the reactor's safety.
"Hualong One was designed in line with the highest safety standards for nuclear reactors in the world. It can meet all requirements and rules issued by the state nuclear safety watchdog. During the development process, we used some of the most advanced technologies and gave priorities to both the reliability and preventive measures to accidents. We also tried to draw lessons from the disaster at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant to design a comprehensive set of precautionary and relief measures."
Hualong One is a third-generation nuclear reactor jointly developed by the China General Nuclear Power Group and China National Nuclear Corporation.
Its core ACP1000 technology passed the Generic Reactor Safety Review by the International Atomic Energy Agency in December, a milestone that put China on a level playing field with Western countries in bids for international projects.
The approval of the Fuqing project was granted during an executive meeting on April 15, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.
A statement released after the meeting says the project will improve the competitiveness of the country's equipment manufacturing on the global stage.
According to Xing Ji, co-designer of Hualong One, from China National Nuclear Corporation, the product has drawn wide attention from abroad.
"In overseas markets, our project in Pakistan that uses the Hualong One technology is proceeding well. Our project in Argentina is also going smoothly. In February, witnessed by leaders of China and Argentina, an agreement on cooperation in building a large pressurized water reactor was signed, marking our success in exporting our third-generation nuclear reactor to Latin America. Also, the Hualong reactor has raised interest among enterprises from the countries like Britain, Saudi Arabia and South Africa and negotiations have been underway."
Earlier, Chinese enterprises were given formal go-ahead by the British government to take part in local nuclear power projects.
The CNNC has decided to invest in two local plants. The company has confirmed that the Hualong One design will be used in the one where it has a controlling interest.
