China’s First Homegrown Nuclear Reactor Begins Loading Fuel

  • China National Nuclear gets operating license for Fuqing No. 5
  • Success of Hualong One design could trigger national buildout
The installation site of reactor pressure vessel of the No.5 unit of the Fuqing nuclear power plant in Fujian Province, Jan. 2018.Photographer: Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan via Getty Images
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China’s homegrown nuclear technology took a significant step forward as a Hualong One reactor began loading fuel for the first time.

China National Nuclear Power Co., a unit of China National Nuclear Corp., said fuel loading started at the Fuqing No. 5 reactor, the first to use the domestic technology, on Sept. 4 after securing an operating license from the nation’s Ministry of Ecology & Environment, according a statementBloomberg Terminal on its WeChat account. No timeline was given for starting up the reactor.