The first of four planned Chinese-made Hualong-1 units at the Zhangzhou nuclear power plant began operation earlier this year. (Photo: China National Nuclear Corporation/Xinhua)
As trade negotiations are in the works between the United States and China, Washington, D.C., has the advantage in semiconductors but nuclear power is a different story, according to a June 9 article in the Hong Kong–based South China Morning Post.
The article quotes a researcher and analyst affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences as saying, “Nuclear power generation is one of the areas in which China has made obvious progress in swapping out imported tech and parts. America’s curbs on chips and chipmaking lithography machines have real teeth, but [U.S. export restriction on] nuclear does not.”
Westinghouse reactors: The article explains that the Trump administration has “reportedly suspended licenses for the export of some nuclear power generation equipment to China,” but that this tough U.S. stance “could even backfire, as U.S. suppliers like Westinghouse and Emerson risk losing out on the vast Chinese market.” The article added, “Plants are already being decommissioned in the U.S. and some European countries, meaning less business for Westinghouse.”
Several nuclear power plants in China, including those that provide electricity to Guangdong and Zhejiang, use Westinghouse AP1000 reactors, with additional AP1000 units under construction. Thus, the inability to purchase such reactors and their parts from the American company could initially have negative consequences for China, but such consequences are likely to lessen over time as China’s nuclear industry works toward the government’s goal of self-sufficiency, according to the article.
Self-sufficiency: China “is now the world’s largest market for nuclear power generation products,” with 102 commercial reactors in operation or under construction—more than any other country. According to the China Nuclear Energy Association, the Chinese government invested a record amount of $20.45 billion in the nuclear energy industry last year. Much of that investment is going toward domestically produced reactors, such as the Generation-III Hualong-1, which is described as “a symbol of self-reliance—with over 90 percent of components manufactured at home.”
