Published on October 2, 2019.
This article explains China’s nuclear power industry, focusing on the three major state-owned operators—CNNC, CGN, and SPIC—the military and state-run structure rooted in the Ministry of Nuclear Industry, the internal integration of technology development, design, and construction divisions, and the role of major manufacturers such as Shanghai Electric, Dongfang Electric, and Harbin Electric in producing key equipment.

October 2, 2019.
China National Nuclear Corporation, CNNC…
As the central company in the nuclear field, including fuel supply, it currently operates 18 reactors with an installed capacity of 15.4 million kW.
The following is a chapter published on July 15, 2019, under the title: Major equipment is manufactured by the five major manufacturers—Shanghai Electric Group, Dongfang Electric Corporation, Harbin Electric Corporation, China First Heavy Industries, and China National Erzhong Group—among others, based on the designs of each nuclear power company.
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one can absolutely never understand the truth of things.
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The following is a continuation of the previous chapter.
Japan’s nuclear power operators are ten privately owned electric power companies.
In 1960, the Japan Atomic Power Company began construction of the Tokai Nuclear Power Plant, and in 1965 it began operation.
Next, nine major electric power companies, including Kansai Electric Power and Tokyo Electric Power, joined, and Electric Power Development is also constructing the Oma Nuclear Power Plant.
On the other hand, the technological development of nuclear power generation, plant design, equipment manufacturing, installation, and other construction and maintenance work are handled by nuclear plant manufacturers such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hitachi, and Toshiba.
By contrast, China’s nuclear power generation business differs greatly from Japan’s system in such respects as:

1. it is a state-run enterprise;
2. it is rooted in the Ministry of Nuclear Industry, which was responsible for the military sector;
3. the operators themselves have technology development, design, and construction divisions within their own organizations and play a central role even in construction work.
   China began developing nuclear weapons technology in 1955.
   In 1964, it succeeded in a nuclear test, but the introduction of nuclear power generation was delayed.
   China’s first nuclear power plant was the Qinshan Phase I Nuclear Power Plant in Zhejiang Province, which achieved first criticality in 1991.
   It was a pressurized water light-water reactor, the CNP300 type, with an output of 310,000 kW.
   China, promoted under government leadership.
   China has three nuclear power operators:
   China National Nuclear Corporation, CNNC, which is directly operated by the government’s nuclear sector;
   China General Nuclear Power Group, CGN, a state-run enterprise started in Guangdong Province based on French technology;
   and State Power Investment Corporation, SPIC, a state-owned enterprise established by the government’s power sector.
   The predecessor of CNNC was China National Nuclear Corporation, which separated and became independent from the Ministry of Nuclear Industry in 1989 as the operator of the Qinshan Phase I Nuclear Power Plant, whose construction had been started by the Ministry of Nuclear Industry in 1985.
   The Qinshan Phase I Nuclear Power Plant began commercial operation in 1994 with overseas assistance from companies such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
   In 1999, the company was reorganized as China National Nuclear Corporation, CNNC, and as the central company in the nuclear field, including fuel supply, it currently operates 18 reactors with an installed capacity of 15.4 million kW.
   The predecessor of CGN was China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group, established in 1994 as the operator of Units 1 and 2 of the Guangdong Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant, built near Shenzhen City in Guangdong Province, after introducing French-made pressurized water reactors, PWRs.
   These were M310 reactors, 984,000 kW × 2 units, construction begun in 1987, commercial operation begun in 1994.
   In 2013, the company changed its name to China General Nuclear Power Group, CGN, and today it is China’s largest nuclear power operator, operating 20 reactors with a capacity of 21.467 million kW.
   SPIC, meanwhile, was created in 2015 through the management integration of China Power Investment Corporation, CPI, which inherited the 10 percent stake in Qinshan Phase I Nuclear Power Plant that the state power sector, then the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power, had invested in, at the time of the separation of power generation and transmission in 2002,
   and State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation, SNPTC, an engineering company established by the Chinese government in 2007 to introduce AP1000 technology from the United States.
   SPIC is China’s fifth-largest power generation company, possessing a total installed power generation capacity of 126.13 million kW, centered on coal-fired power.
   Its nuclear power holdings are limited to 4.48 million kW, including its 45 percent stake in the Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant in Liaoning Province, but it is currently constructing the Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant in Shandong Province, consisting of two AP1000 units.
   Furthermore, China’s nuclear power operators have a system in which design and construction divisions for equipment are held within their own organizations.
   In the case of CNNC, for plant design and engineering, it has China Nuclear Power Engineering Company and the Nuclear Power Institute of China under its control.
   CGN also has China Nuclear Power Engineering Company under its control and is working on technological development by absorbing French technology.
   On the other hand, SPIC has SNPTC and the Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute under its control.
   Construction work had mainly been handled by China Nuclear Engineering & Construction Corporation, CNEC, which had become independent from CNNC, but in January 2018 it was once again integrated into CNNC, and the system was strengthened.
   Major equipment is manufactured by the five major manufacturers—Shanghai Electric Group, Dongfang Electric Corporation, Harbin Electric Corporation, China First Heavy Industries, and China National Erzhong Group—among others, based on the designs of each nuclear power company.
   This article continues.