China approves unified nuclear reactor brand

Hualong One reactor eyes competing against Areva and Westinghouse.

China has approved a plan to promote the Hualong One nuclear reactor as a single integrated nuclear reactor brand to accelerate its development overseas and to compete with advanced models such as Areva's EPR or Westinghouse's AP1000, according to Enerdata.

The China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and the China General Nuclear Project Corporation (CGN) have been jointly developing the Hualong One design (1,000 MW pressurized water reactor), while continuing to work separately on their own nuclear reactor design.

"This variety of reactor brands has delayed the approval of new projects in China and abroad, while China aims to raise its nuclear capacity to 200 GW by 2030," Enerdata said.

CNNC and CGN will transfer intellectual property rights to Hualong International, their joint venture created in 2016 and will use integrated technical standards when building Hualong reactors.

This story was originally published by Enerdata.