China’s first Qinshan nuclear power plant outside Shanghai. (AP file)

China is planning to transform Shanghai into world’s top nuclear energy innovation hub in the next five years. This is in accordance with the country’s ambitious plan to become the “global nuclear forerunner” in coming years, according to China official People’s Daily Online.

Shanghai has been the centre of nuclear innovation in China for decades. The new plan aims to make major breakthroughs conducive to a full industrial upgrading. The report quotes Zheng Mingguang, deputy general manager of the Shanghai-based State Nuclear Power Technology (SNPTC), as saying the new plan will include “research and development, manufacturing of fourth-generation reactors and new types of pressurized water reactors, small reactors, marine nuclear power platforms, special nuclear materials, the construction of high-quality test benches and manufacturing chains.”

Under the new ambitious plan, the Chinese government would set up new innovative bodies, including an industry cloud and big data centre, an advanced equipment manufacturing centre, and a basic science innovation centre in Shanghai.

To make the plan effective, China has roped in the country’s eight state-owned nuclear energy producers and the top academies.

China’s National Nuclear and China Nuclear Power Engineering have pledged to provide resources from their Shanghai affiliates to the new innovation hub. Electrical equipment manufacturers, including Shanghai Electric, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics under Chinese Academy of Social Science, Shanghai Supercomputer Centre, and Shanghai Jiaotong University have also signed up make the plan effective.

China will also set up a technology testing and verification base in Shanghai’s Lingang District.

According to the People’s Daily, Shanghai housed China’s first domestically designed and built 300,000 KW Qinshan Plant in the 1970s.