On February 2, 2023, Beijing time, Pakistan held the inauguration ceremony of Unit 3 (K-3) completion of the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant. So far, two 1000 MWe units，Hualong No.1, the China's nuclear power major innovation achievement and independent third-generation nuclear power exported to Pakistan, were officially delivered to Pakistan after being completed and put into operation. The Karachi K-2/K-3 are the largest nuclear power units in Pakistan, and are also the first single-unit 1000 MWe power project in Pakistan. On May 20, 2021, the K-2 unit officially entered commercial operation. On April 18, 2022, the K-3 unit successfully past provisional acceptance. (News source: China National Nuclear Corporation)

French utility EDF's new CEO, Luc Remont, has confirmed a nuclear output target of 300 TWh to 330 TWh this year after output plunged 23% in 2022 to 279 TWh. The 82 TWh deficit, largely due to stress corrosion outages at a dozen reactors, forced the utility to buy back lost volumes at record high prices in the market, prompting a Eur3.6 billion financial net loss for the year, annual results data showed Feb. 17. "The 2022 results were significantly affected by the decline in our electricity output, and also by exceptional regulatory measures introduced in France in difficult market conditions," Remont said. Remont added that 2022 also confirmed the new impetus for nuclear in France as well as accelerated expansion for renewable energies. French power prices meanwhile have shed most of their extreme risk premiums that saw winter contracts trade above Eur1,000/MWh for much of autumn 2022 as gas prices eased, while EDF managed to return reactors. French reactor availability briefly reached 46 out of 56 reactors on Feb. 9, but is set to fall to 41 by Feb. 18 with annual maintenance at six reactors underway, while some long-term outages have been extended into spring. Analysts at S&P Global Commodity Insights forecast 2023 output at 318 TWh, rising to 340 TWh in 2024. Stress corrosion The new CEO aims to return the company back to profitability with 2023 focus on a "gradual exit from the crisis of stress corrosion" after 2022 output was the lowest since 1988. The issue mainly impacts EDF's 16 more modern reactors (four N4 units with 1.5 GW capacity each and twelve P4 reactors with 1.3 GW). EDF in January restarted the Civaux-1 reactor, where the issue was first detected in 2021 and has completed repairs on a few others units gradually returning. The company referred to its Dec. 16 statement as the latest technical update on the repair program, but has delayed a number of scheduled returns since.Focus in 2023 will be on checks and repairs at six units not yet treated for the issue (Belleville 1 and 2, Cattenom 2, Golfech 2, Nogent 1 and 2). EDF also delayed the start of fuel-loading for its new Flamaville-3 reactor to Q1 2024. Analysts at S&P Global expects start of commercial operations only in Q1 2025. Construction for the first new French reactor in a generation started in 2007. The reactor was planned to start in 2018 when President Emmanuel Macron took power in 2017. France also plans to accelerate the development of six new EPR2 reactors with almost 10 GW capacity and a target date around 2035. Green growth EDF commissioned some 3.6 GW new renewables in 2022 including France's first offshore wind farm (480 MW offshore Saint Nazaire) and achieved first power from the world's largest solar power plant (2 GW Al Dhafrah in the UAE), it said. Its wind and solar project pipeline grew by 12% to 85 GW gross including the 1.5-GW New York Bight offshore wind project. EDF's net installed wind and solar capacity rose 10% to 13.2 GW by end-2022, it said. Meanwhile, French hydro output fell 22% on the year to 32.4 TWh as French hydro fell to its lowest since 1976 amid drought conditions that started to eased in Q4. In Great Britain, EDF increased 2022 nuclear production by 5% to 43.6 TWh. French front-month power prices have fallen to a discount to UK month-ahead prices last assessed Feb. 16 at GBP137.55/MWh (Eur154.72/MWh).

1、General Secretary Xi Jinping listing of achievements included nuclear power technology shows that China has entered the ranks of innovative countries On January 24, 2022, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the 36th collective study of the Party Politburo on striving to achieve the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, pointing out the active, safe and orderly development of nuclear power. On October 16, 2022, in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping elaborated on 10 major achievements, including nuclear power technology, indicating that China has entered the ranks of innovative countries.

On November 1, 2022, the nuclear energy heating demonstration project of Liaoning Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant was officially put into operation, starting to supply steam.. This project is the first nuclear energy heating project in Northeast China, covering Hongyanhe Town, Wafangdian, Dalian City, benefiting nearly 20,000 local residents. The project is located in Hongyanhe Town, Wafangdian, Dalian City, with a planned heating area of 242,400 square meters and a maximum heating load of 12.77MW. The steams are extracted from the steam turbine of Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant as a heat source so that the original 12 coal-fired boilers are replaced to realize clean heating in Hongyanhe Town. It is estimated that after the project is put into operation, it will reduce the consumption of standard coal by 5,726 tons per year, reduce carbon dioxide by 14,100 tons, soot by more than 209 tons, sulfur dioxide by more than 60 tons, nitrogen oxides by more than 85 tons, and ash slag by 2,621 tons. (Source: China General Nuclear Power Group)

On October 28, 2022, the China National Nuclear Power Co., Ltd (CNNP) issued an announcement that the CNNP plans to jointly invest with Donghua Energy Co., Ltd. to establish CNNC Donghua Maoming Green Energy Co., Ltd (Tentative name, the official name shall be subject to approval of the industrial and commercial registration ). This project will serve as the main body of construction and operation of Maoming Green Energy Project, a new development concept model engineering project coupled by CNNC high-temperature gas-cooled reactor and petrochemical industry. The CNNP intends to invest 255 million yuan to hold a 51% stake in Maoming Green Energy. (Source: Flush Finance)

On October 28, 2022, the Project of CNNC Qinshan Isotope Production Base officially started construction in Haiyan County, Zhejiang Province. After the Project is completed and put into operation, it will become the largest isotope production base in China. The total investment of the project is 460 million yuan, and five isotope production lines are planned to be built, including isotopes such as cobalt-60, carbon-14, iodine-131 and strontium-89. The Project has been planned and will be constructed in phases. The first phase of construction includes multiple isotope production lines including cobalt-60 and carbon-14, which will effectively enhance China's isotope localization production capacity. CNNC Qinshan Isotope Co., Ltd. was jointly invested and established by the China Isotope & Radiation Corporation, Qinshan Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. and Haiyan County State owned Capital Investment Co., Ltd, with the China Isotope & Radiation Corporation as the controlling shareholder. (Source: CNNC)

As of October 1, 2022, as the national team and the main force of China's uranium exploration, the China Uranium Industry Co., Ltd. has obtained tens of thousands of tons of uranium resources with 85% of its workload. Among them, recoverable high-quality reserves are accounted for 50%, 1 super-large uranium deposit and 2 large-scale uranium deposits that could be mined by in-situ leaching were confirmed, and 1 super-large uranium metallogenic belt has been discovered, continuously discovering deposits in new areas and ore beds. The annual prospecting target is substantially exceeded, with a major breakthrough in prospecting to further verify the forecasted prospect of domestic uranium resources and greatly enhancing the confidence in searching for uranium mines in China. (Source: China Energy News)

On the afternoon of October 19, 2022, the plasma current of China's new generation "artificial sun" device (HL-2M) exceeded 1 million amperes (1 megaamperes), creating a new record for the operation of China's controllable nuclear fusion device. This event marks an important step forward for China's nuclear fusion research and development towards fusion ignition, China has already ranked among the first square matrix in the world, and its technological level is at the forefront of the world. This new breakthrough means that the device can routinely operate under a plasma current of more than 1 megaampere in the future, and conduct cutting-edge scientific research. This is of great significance for China to deeply participate in the International Thermonuclear Fusion Reactor (ITER) experiment and independently design and operate a nuclear fusion reactor in the future. (Source: Xinhuanet)

On October 16, 2022, General Secretary Mr. Xi Jinping pointed out in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China concerning the work of the past five years and the great changes in the new era of ten years that basic research and original innovation had been continuously strengthened, some key core technologies had achieved breakthroughs, and strategic emerging industries grew and developed, manned spaceflight, Moon and Mars exploration, deep-sea and deep-earth exploration, supercomputers, satellite navigation, quantum information, nuclear power technology, new energy technology, large aircraft manufacturing, biomedicine, etc. had made major achievements and entered the ranks of innovative countries. (Source: Xinhua News Agency)

From September 16 to 18, 2022, the first China-ASEAN Forum on the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Technology, co-sponsored by the China Atomic Energy Authority and the People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, was officially held in Nanning, Guangxi, in a combination of online and offline. This forum includes a main forum, five sub-forums and several supporting activities. The main forum with the theme of "Nuclear Technology Helps a Better Life", includes the activities such as the opening speech, launching ceremony, representative speeches, results release, invited speeches etc.. The China Isotope & Radiation Association released the China-ASEAN demonstration project on international cooperation in nuclear technology application, and CNNC released the report on sustainable development of the "Belt and Road". Participants witnessed the signing of relevant cooperation e documents between nuclear related enterprises and relevant government partners. (Source: China Atomic Energy Agency)