Milestones in China's nuclear industry

Development of China's nuclear power and related technology

On Dec 15, 1991, China's self-designed Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant with a capacity of 300,000 kilowatts was successfully connected to the power grid, in Haiyan county of Jiaxing city, East China's Zhejiang province, ending the history of no nuclear power on the Chinese mainland, and marking a crucial leap forward in the country's peaceful utilization of nuclear energy.

Over the span of more than 30 years, China has progressively mastered core nuclear power technologies of various reactor types, including fast reactors, high-temperature gas-cooled reactors, low-temperature heating reactors, modular small-scale reactors and offshore floating reactors, enabling the nation to build nuclear power plants featuring a variety of primary reactor types.

Also, China boasts the capacity to simultaneously build more than 40 nuclear power units, according to a report on the development of China's nuclear power which was released by the China Nuclear Energy Association in 2023.