A scientific and rational understanding of China's nuclear energy safety

April 15 is China's fifth National Security Education Day. As an important safety topic in the energy field, nuclear energy safety has attracted much public attention. China's nuclear power technology nuclear safety standards, how to scientifically and rationally understand China's nuclear energy safety and nuclear energy development, in response to the above questions, China Nuclear Energy Industry Association deputy Secretary General, spokesman Yang Bo recently made the answer.

Question 1: Since the establishment of China's nuclear industry, the Chinese government has always attached great importance to the safety of nuclear facilities. How has the Chinese government and the nuclear energy industry viewed nuclear safety since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China?

Yang Bo: Since the establishment of China's nuclear energy industry 65 years ago, the Chinese government has always attached great importance to nuclear safety, and ensuring nuclear safety has always been the common mission of the nuclear energy industry. Nuclear security concerns national security, people's health, social stability and the status of a great power.  China has always taken safeguarding nuclear safety as an important state responsibility, and has integrated it into the whole process of developing and utilizing nuclear energy. We have always taken safety as the prerequisite for developing the nuclear industry, adhered to the principle of defense-in-depth, and exercised supervision in accordance with the strictest safety standards. It has always actively adapted to the new requirements of the development of the nuclear industry, and constantly promoted nuclear safety management to keep pace with The Times and develop innovatively.

Nuclear safety is also a matter of life and death for nuclear companies. All sectors of China's nuclear energy industry always adhere to the principle of "safety first, quality first", and insist on ensuring nuclear safety as the lifeline of the development of the nuclear energy industry. We take "respecting and safeguarding nuclear security" as our common responsibility, and work together to build a community of shared future for the safe, efficient and sustainable development of nuclear energy. For a long time, China's nuclear energy industry has maintained a good record of nuclear safety and blazed a path of nuclear safety with Chinese characteristics.

Question 2: Nuclear energy safety is a major component of nuclear safety, and public perception of nuclear energy safety depends first on the performance of safe operation of nuclear power plants. Compared with international advanced indicators, how is China's nuclear power operation level?

Yang Bo: It can be said that the safe operation of nuclear power units is the best nuclear safety education. In 1985, China's nuclear power industry started from Qinshan, after more than 30 years of development, China has formed a nuclear safety management capability of independent design, manufacturing, construction and operation of nuclear power. As of December 2019, it had 47 nuclear power units in operation, ranking third in the world, and 11 nuclear power units under construction, ranking first in the world. At present, China has become a major country in the world for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

For more than 30 years, China's nuclear power plants have maintained a good record of safe operation, with no operational incidents of level 2 or above as defined by the International Nuclear Event Scale, and no incidents causing pollution or harm to personnel or the environment. The overall performance index of China's nuclear power units is in good condition, and the accumulative safe operation of more than 300 reactor years.  

Question 3: It is understood that China's nuclear power technology has reached the highest international nuclear safety standards, how to evaluate the nuclear safety standards of China's nuclear power technology?

Yang Bo: China insists on using the most advanced technology and the most stringent standards to develop nuclear power. The quality of nuclear power units under construction is controlled, the design indicators of new nuclear power units meet the highest international nuclear safety standards, and there are relatively complete measures to prevent and mitigate serious accidents. Especially after the Fukushima nuclear accident, the country accelerated the upgrading of nuclear power technology, and all new nuclear power projects adopted third-generation nuclear power technology. The third generation of nuclear power technology is designed to ensure that even if a serious accident such as a reactor core meltdown occurs, radioactive contamination can be controlled within the containment of the nuclear power plant, and large-scale radioactive release consequences will not be generated outside the nuclear power plant, and substantial and long-term impacts will not be generated on the surrounding ecological environment.

China's self-designed "Hualong One" design safety has reached the international first-class level, high technical maturity, the first batch of demonstration projects are progressing smoothly, and it is currently one of the few third-generation first nuclear power units in the world that can be implemented in accordance with the planned schedule. With the "Hualong One" and other construction as a symbol, China has become another country with independent third-generation nuclear power technology and a complete industrial chain after the United States, France, Russia and other nuclear power countries, in terms of the scale and development prospects under construction, China has become the world's third-generation nuclear power development industry center.