China begins operating the world's first fourth-generation nuclear reactor

China has begun commercial operation of a new-generation nuclear reactor, the first of its kind in the world. The Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported this today. The fourth-generation Shidaowan power plant in the northern Chinese province of Shandong is designed to use fuel more efficiently, be more economical and safer, and have a smaller environmental impact. The 200-megawatt (MW) plant, with its high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR), uses so-called modular construction.

Modular plants are defined as those with a capacity of less than 300 MW that can be built away from the power plant site. Supporters point out that they can operate in remote locations and supply power to heavy industry. Critics, however, argue that they are too expensive.

NuScale Power, which was previously expected to become the first US company licensed to build a small modular reactor, announced this month that it was ending its planned project in Utah because of rising costs.

China has set a target of generating ten percent of its electricity from nuclear power by 2035, with plans to increase this to 18 percent by 2060. By this September, however, it had not met its target of installing 58 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2020.

Beijing also did not sign the commitment made by twenty countries at the COP28 climate conference to triple nuclear power capacity by 2050. COP28 is taking place in Dubai these days.