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Dannie Peng

While extreme weather is disrupting nuclear power generation in some parts of the world, it is unlikely to derail China’s rapid expansion in the sector, according to an industry specialist.
The unusually hot and dry summer has disrupted reactors across Europe, forcing units to shut down from France to Romania, as river levels have fallen and water temperatures risen.
France – where nuclear accounts for around 70 per cent of electricity generation – had a record shortfall of more than 20 per cent in its nuclear-based capacity, with outages linked to drought, extreme heat and an invasion of jellyfish, Le Monde reported on August 11.
Nuclear facilities require large quantities of reactor-cooling water. However, unlike Europe’s reactors – which are mainly built along rivers – China’s nuclear power plants have been constructed along the coast.
Using open seawater for cooling makes Chinese reactors less vulnerable to droughts and heatwaves, according to Francois Morin, China director of the World Nuclear Association, an international industry body.

While coastal areas faced a range of threats associated with extreme weather, including storms and rising sea levels, China had a good understanding of typhoons and they did not pose a serious threat to its nuclear reactors, Morin said.
“Like earthquakes, typhoons can be managed through appropriate design and engineering measures,” he said on July 29.
The Lufeng project, under construction in the southern province of Guangdong, is a typical example of how extreme weather factors are incorporated into China’s nuclear safety planning.
Located in Shanwei, on China’s eastern coast, the project’s six third-generation nuclear technology units will consist of four Hualong One and two CAP1000 pressurised water reactors.
The domestic Hualong One was co-developed by the state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation and China General Nuclear Power Group, while the CAP1000 is a localised version of the American company Westinghouse’s AP1000.
According to a report published by Jinan Times in late July, the effects of extreme weather were taken into account from the earliest stages of the Lufeng project’s design, with its location frequently exposed to typhoons, torrential rain and storm surges.
The site is designed to withstand the ground motion associated with a 10,000-year earthquake while its flood defences are expected to be able to handle rainfall levels of events with a one in 1,000 chance of occurring.
The nuclear-island structures had also been designed to withstand winds of up to Force 17 – a level of strength associated with super typhoons, the report said.

Zhang Min, head of the project’s safety protection department, told the newspaper that a comprehensive early-warning and emergency-response system had also been established.
These included standardised procedures for dealing with extreme weather and practical emergency exercises for responding to exceptionally strong typhoons, according to the report.
The project has already withstood several powerful typhoons, including Typhoon Ragasa in September last year.
Overall, its operations had remained safe and controllable, with risks kept in check and no safety incidents reported, the article said.
According to Morin, in addition to engineering safeguards and emergency preparedness, China’s technological advances could help its nuclear expansion better withstand the effects of climate change – and eventually lay the groundwork for inland reactors.
While China’s nuclear buildout centres on the Hualong One and CAP1000, Beijing is also promoting next-generation reactor designs that require less water and are safer.
Unlike mainstream pressurised-water reactor technology, China’s leading fourth-generation high-temperature gas-cooled reactors do not use water as their main coolant.
A fast-neutron-reactor demonstration project is also operating in Xiapu county on the eastern coast of Fujian province. Such reactors typically use liquid sodium or lead as a coolant.


As early as 2011, China’s National Climate Centre was warning that, before nuclear energy could help address climate change, nuclear power plants themselves could become highly vulnerable to its effects.
In an article published that year, the centre noted that while the International Atomic Energy Agency recommended designing nuclear power plants to operate for 100 years, climate models disagreed on what conditions might arise during that period.
It remained uncertain how plants would be operated over such a long lifespan, the article said, adding that some newer reactor designs required less water but the operating costs of these systems could be prohibitive.
“The bottom line is that nuclear power must adapt to climate change while also taking measures to mitigate the effects. This is a major challenge,” it said.
Despite connecting its first nuclear power plant to the grid in 1991, decades after Western pioneers, China is today building reactors faster and at a lower cost than its peers, with the State Council approving 10 or more reactors annually since 2022.
The country is set to overtake the United States as the world’s largest nuclear power operator by installed capacity within five years, as current projects reach completion.
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Why climate extremes will not stop expansion of China’s nuclear power industry

Falling river levels and rising water temperatures have disrupted nuclear power generation across Europe, but China’s industry is expected to be more resilient. Photo: EPA

Nuclear reactors require large quantities of water to cool them. However, unlike Europe’s reactors – which are mainly built along rivers – China’s nuclear power plants have been constructed along the coast. Photo: Xinhua

The Lufeng nuclear power plant, pictured in August during construction, has been designed to withstand extreme weather events, including earthquakes, floods and super typhoons. Photo: CGN

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News

China

Technological advances alongside planning for increasingly severe weather events are more likely to help the rapidly growing sector


Technological advances alongside planning for increasingly severe weather events are more likely to help the rapidly growing sector.


Why climate extremes will not stop expansion of China’s nuclear power industry

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Technological advances alongside planning for increasingly severe weather events are more likely to help the rapidly growing sector

Technological advances alongside planning for increasingly severe weather events are more likely to help the rapidly growing sector