Meanwhile, China appears to be ahead of the U.S. in applying the newest generation of nuclear power technology to its electric power grid. Bloomberg reported Monday that the Hualong One reactor began loading fuel for the first time.
China National Nuclear Power company is a unit of China National Nuclear, the country's state-controlled nuclear authority. On Monday it announced that fuel loading started at the Fuqing No. 5 reactor, the first to use the new technology, on September 4. The company had secured an operating license from the Ministry of Ecology & Environment.
Bloomberg said China is on track to develop the new nuclear technology without any help from the US. Beijing abruptly ended a three-year freeze to move this project, and to build more of these reactors across China.
Hualong One's success could mean a nuclear revival in China with no help from Westinghouse Electric Co. from the U.S., and France’s Electricite de France SA. China had almost 49 gigawatts of nuclear power installed as of 2019 and should get into the mid-fifties this year. GlobalData Plc predicts it will pass France as the world’s No. 2 nuclear generator in 2022, and exceed the U.S. four years after that.
Beijing gave the green light to four Hualong One reactors last year in a clear sign of support, ending a three-year freeze on new approvals caused by the government considering different technologies and the ongoing trade dispute with the U.S. Two more projects that will use Hualong One designs, with a combined cost of $10 billion, were approved last week.
China started up the world’s first prototype next-generation reactors in 2018, including four AP1000 units designed by Westinghouse, using EDF’s EPR technology.