State-owned energy company China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) is adamant in achieving its full-year targets this year by balancing its infection control measures with its normal business operations. A senior executive stated that it will still be focusing on technological innovation while also ensuring the safety of its workers.
The general manager of China's largest nuclear power company in terms of production, Gu Jun, stated that around 99.5 percent of its subsidiary companies have already resumed operations. Even as the pandemic had started to spread across China earlier in the year, the company still continued to run essential operations such as its 21 nuclear power plants.
Since January 20, the plants have generated more than 20 billion kilowatt-hours of power to support the country's continued fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The company stated that besides telecommunications, food, and utilities, the daily supply of electricity to households and companies was essential in the fight against the disease.
The director of the department of nuclear power safety supervision at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Tang Bo, had previously stated that all of the country's 47 nuclear power plants had to meet all safety standards before being allowed to continue operations to ensure the health of workers. Companies were also encouraged to enhance existing safety protocols and to use key technologies such as radiation sterilization.
Continuing to operate during the height of the pandemic did present some risks, but CNNC made sure that it stuck to safety protocols while also carrying out its social responsibilities. Through its subsidiary China Isotope & Radiation Corp (CIRC), CNNC provided radiation sterilization services to government agencies and frontline companies. This included disinfections of more than 1.2 million medical gowns, 280,000 surgical masks, and 2.8 million medical gloves.
The same company also provided free radiation sterilization services for medical equipment that were being sent to Wuhan, the epicenter of the viral pandemic. CIRC deputy chief engineer, Wang Dingquan, explained that its radiation sterilization method is much faster, more efficient, and environmentally friendlier than standard chemical methods.
To support the fight at the epicenter of the outbreak, CNNC had sent 47 medical workers to Hubei province. The company also donated more than 64 million yuan to the relief effort, along with 118,000 surgical masks, and 40 tons of alcohol-based disinfectants.
Apart from doing its social responsibilities and ensuring its continued operations amid the crisis, CNNC is also moving forward with its innovative developments. In March, CNNC subsidiary China Nuclear Power Engineering announced that it had completed tests on its domestically developed next-generation reactor design. The reactor, using the company's proprietary Hualong One technology, completed its tests in Fuqing, Fujian province.
