This photo shows the No. 5 unit (left) China's Fuqing Nuclear Power Plant using Hualong One, a domestically-designed third-generation nuclear reactor in the city of Fuqing, East China's Fujian province, on Jan 4, 2021. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING - The No. 5 unit of China's Fuqing Nuclear Power Plant, the world's first demonstration project to adopt China's indigenous Generation III nuclear power technology Hualong One, also known as HPR1000, was put into commercial operation, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced on Saturday.

The unit in the city of Fuqing, east China's Fujian province, is generating electricity for sale after a seven-day trial run, said CNNC.

The installed capacity of each Hualong One unit reaches nearly 1,200 MWe, and each unit is able to generate nearly 10 billion kWh of electricity annually, meeting the demand of 1 million population within a moderately developed country

The success marks a milestone for the development of China's nuclear power, making China the fourth country to master its indigenous Generation III nuclear power technology following the US, France and Russia.

ALSO READ: China's first Hualong One nuclear reactor starts operations

Hualong One is CNNC's Generation III nuclear power technology with complete independent intellectual property rights, developed and designed by the corporation on the basis of more than 30 years of nuclear power research, design, manufacturing, construction and operation experiences.

Yu Jianfeng, chairman of CNNC, said the corporation will accelerate the progress of mass constructing Hualong One reactors and developing new series technologies in a bid to promote the Hualong One to export and achieve the target of carbon neutrality.

Since the start of construction on the world's first Hualong One reactor, the project has progressed as planned and the safety and quality of it have been well under control.

With a design life of 60 years, Hualong One reactor adopts a 177-reactor core design that needs refueling the fuel every 18 months. It innovatively uses a combination of "active and passive" safety systems and a double-shell containment, which meets the latest international nuclear safety requirements.

The installed capacity of each Hualong One unit reaches nearly 1,200 MWe, and each unit is able to generate nearly 10 billion kWh of electricity annually, meeting the demand of 1 million population within a moderately developed country.

The commercial use of Hualong One will also help meet low-carbon development goals like having CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, Yu said.

READ MORE: Nation's nuclear energy on steady development track, say experts

The electricity generated by a Hualong One unit is an equivalent to reducing the consumption of 3.12 million tons of standard coal and emission of 8.16 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, as well as an equivalent to plantation of over 70 million trees annually.

Construction of the No. 5 unit began in May 2015, and has proceeded as scheduled despite the disruptions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, said CNNC.

With Xinhua inputs