The exposition of nuclear power in the 13th Five-Year Plan has laid the foundation for the development of the industry in the next five years, and generally pointed out the trend of nuclear power in China in terms of technology selection, regional layout and nuclear fuel cycle. If the 11th Five-Year Plan and the 12th Five-Year Plan are compared vertically, the change of energy policy orientation will be more obvious.
First of all, from the three plans to explain the order of different energy categories:
The 11th Five-Year Plan:① Development and utilization of coal-② Coal-fired power generation.(3) water and electricity—④ Nuclear power④ Oil and gas development ⑤ Wind energy, biomass energy, solar energy, geothermal energy and ocean energy.
The 12th Five-Year Plan:① Coal development and utilization② Oil and gas development—③ Coal-electricity(4) water and electricity—⑤ Nuclear power⑥ Wind power, solar energy, biomass energy and geothermal energy, etc.
The 13th Five-Year Plan: ① Hydropower-② Wind power, photovoltaic, photothermal-③ Nuclear power-④ Biomass energy, geothermal energy and tidal energy-⑤ Coal development and utilization—⑥ Coal and electricity-⑦ Oil and gas development-⑧ Upgrade of refined oil.
Obviously, the status and role of coal-fired power have changed the most, and with the reduction of power generation cost brought by technological progress, the status of wind power and solar energy has increased significantly. In addition to the industry’s own factors, this is closely related to the background of power supply and demand in China. In the era of power shortage, the demand for power supply has priority over the demand for energy cleanliness. With the deterioration of the environment and the slowdown of electricity consumption, the external environmental cost of traditional energy sources has been paid attention to, and the energy structure is inclined to clean and low carbon.
It can be seen that the ranking of nuclear power has been relatively stable. In China’s energy structure adjustment, nuclear power has always been highly anticipated. Let’s look at the current development of the industry: Xu Dazhe, director of China’s National Atomic Energy Agency, said on January 27th that up to now, there are 30 nuclear power units in operation in Chinese mainland with a total installed capacity of 28.31 million kilowatts, and 24 nuclear power units under construction with a total installed capacity of 26.72 million kilowatts. Among them, the number of nuclear power units under construction ranks first in the world, and the total number of units under construction and in operation ranks third in the world. In 2015, nuclear power generation accounted for about 3.01% of the national power generation.


Let’s look at the specific elaboration of nuclear power in the three plans, and we can clearly see the changes of nuclear power development plans:
The 11th Five-Year Plan:Actively promote nuclear power construction.Focus on the construction of million kilowatt nuclear power plants, and gradually realize the design, manufacture, construction and operation autonomy of advanced pressurized water reactor nuclear power plants. Strengthen the exploration, exploitation and processing technology transformation of nuclear fuel resources, as well as the development of key nuclear power technologies and the training of nuclear power talents.
The 12th Five-Year Plan:Develop nuclear power efficiently on the basis of ensuring safety.; Focus on developing nuclear power in the eastern coastal areas and parts of central China; (mentioned in the key points of energy construction)Accelerate the development of nuclear power in coastal provinces and steadily promote the construction of nuclear power in central provincesConstruction of 40 million kilowatts of nuclear power started.
The 13th Five-Year Plan:Focus on coastal nuclear power belt, safe construction of independent nuclear power demonstration projects and projects; (mentioned in major energy development projects) Sanmen and Haiyang AP1000 projects have been completed. Construction of "Hualong No.1" demonstration projects in Fuqing, Fujian and Fangchenggang, Guangxi. Construction of Shandong Rongcheng CAP1400 demonstration project started.Start construction of a number of new coastal nuclear power projects.To speed up the construction of Tianwan Nuclear Power Phase III Project.Actively carry out the preliminary work of inland nuclear power projects. Accelerate the demonstration and promote the construction of large-scale commercial reprocessing plants. The installed capacity of nuclear power operation has reached 58 million kilowatts, and it is under construction to reach more than 30 million kilowatts. Strengthen the construction of nuclear fuel security system.

This shows that:
1. From the technical route, AP/CAP and Hualong-1 will walk on two legs.


AP1000 is a third-generation nuclear power technology of million kilowatt pressurized water reactor imported by China from Westinghouse, while CAP1400 is a third-generation nuclear power technology with independent intellectual property rights and higher power, which was innovated by China on the basis of digesting, absorbing and fully mastering the passive technology of AP1000. The AP1000 self-reliance projects are located in Sanmen, Zhejiang and Haiyang, Shandong (the first phase of Sanmen nuclear power project is the first AP1000 nuclear power project in the world). As a follow-up, Sanmen Phase II and Haiyang Phase II will adopt domestic CAP1000 technology and will start construction during the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan period.
The CAP1400 demonstration project of large-scale advanced PWR nuclear power plant is located in Rongcheng, Shandong Province, and two CAP1400 PWR nuclear power units are planned to be built. The consensus in the industry is that CAP1400 demonstration project is expected to be approved for construction in the near future.
As another branch, Hualong No.1 is a three-generation, million-kilowatt-class pressurized water reactor nuclear power model jointly developed by China National Nuclear Corporation and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation on the basis of more than 30 years’ experience in nuclear power research, design, manufacture, construction and operation in China, fully drawing on the advanced concepts of international three-generation nuclear power technology and drawing on the experience feedback from Fukushima nuclear accident. At present, Hualong No.1 demonstration project is being promoted in Fuqing, Fujian and Fangchenggang, Guangxi.
CAP series was born out of American technology, while Hualong was based on M310 nuclear power technology imported from France that China had mastered before. It can be seen that the third generation nuclear power will replace the second generation plus and become the mainstream route of nuclear power development in the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan", and the nuclear power technology independently designed by China will play an absolute leading role in it. Tianwan Phase III mentioned in the plan is regarded as the swan song of the second generation plus technology.
2.As far as the site selection of nuclear power plants is concerned,The adjustment of the planning statement means that it is unlikely that some provinces in central China will start nuclear power projects during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, and the coastal areas will remain the focus of development. The statement about inland means that some inland nuclear power projects may face a "preliminary work stage" of more than ten years.

Take the taohuajiang nuclear power project in Hunan Province as an example. Since 2008, the project has invested a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources. With the outbreak of the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, the preparatory work has come to a standstill. Since then, China has suspended nuclear power approval, and the personnel and equipment of the taohuajiang project have also been diverted to the coastal projects within CNNC.
During the two sessions this year, Zheng Yanguo, general manager of Hunan taohuajiang Nuclear Power Co., Ltd., said that the project has completed a total investment of 4.29 billion yuan in fixed assets, which is fully qualified for construction.
Due to the huge investment in nuclear power plants, it is necessary to borrow from banks. Previously, it was publicly reported that the interest paid by the taohuajiang project was more than two billion yuan each year. Once shutdown, nuclear power enterprises have to bear huge financial costs. The project has not been opened, but this part of the loan cost will not stop rolling.
3. The installed capacity of nuclear power operation has reached 58 million kilowatts, and it has reached more than 30 million kilowatts under construction. This is the goal set in the long-term development plan of nuclear power earlier. It is worth noting that during the two sessions,Nur Bai Keli, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission and director of the National Energy Administration, once said that the current coastal nuclear power sites are sufficient to ensure the realization of nuclear power development goals during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. For the inland, "the argument is still going on" and "there is no timetable at present".
4. For China, where nuclear power development has entered the fast lane, spent fuel reprocessing is an extremely critical link in the nuclear fuel cycle, no matter from the perspective of improving the utilization rate of uranium resources, ensuring the long-term development of nuclear energy or reducing nuclear waste. At present, China’s spent fuel reprocessing has taken a "two-legged" approach of independent development and Sino-French cooperation.