· Document Number：No. 71 [2018] of the General Office of the State Council

· Area of Law： Standardization Administration, Certification and Accreditation

· Level of Authority： Regulatory Documents of the State Council

· Date issued：07-23-2018

· Effective Date：07-23-2018

· Issuing Authority： General Office of the State Council

· Status： Effective

Guiding Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Strengthening the Standardization of Nuclear Power
(No. 71 [2018] of the General Office of the State Council)
The people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; all ministries and commissions of the State Council, and the institutions directly under the State Council:
Developing nuclear power in a safe and efficient manner is a key integral part of China's energy strategy. As a solid guarantee for the safety and sustainability of nuclear power in China and an important means to promote the export of our nuclear power technologies, nuclear power standardization is of vital significance for China to leapfrog from a major nuclear power country to a strong one. For the purpose of strengthening the standardization of nuclear power in China and under the approval of the State Council, we hereby offer our opinions as follows:
I. General Requirements
1. Guiding Ideology
Under the guidance of General Secretary Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in a New Era, we shall comprehensively implement the spirit of the 19th CPC National People's Congress and the Second and Third Plenary Sessions of the 19th CPC Central Committee, focus on the long-term development of nuclear power plants in accordance with the arrangement in the Scheme for Deepening Reform of the Work of Standardization issued by the State Council, and make unswerving efforts to promote both localization and internationalization of the standards. In addition, we shall reach a consensus, make independent innovations, accelerate the construction of an independent, unified, coordinated, and advanced nuclear power standardization system that suits to the level of our country's nuclear power development, give full play to the role of the standards in regulating, leading and supporting the nuclear power projects, advance the progress of nuclear power technologies and equipment, and guarantee the safety and sustainability of nuclear power industry in China.
2. General Principles
- Improving the system and the leadership. A leadership coordination mechanism shall be established for the work of nuclear power standardization, and the functions and responsibilities of various departments shall be clarified, so that they can play a leading role in coordinating the construction, implementation, supervision, scientific research, international cooperation, and other aspects of a nuclear power standardization system.
- Enhancing inter-departmental collaboration and implementation. Relevant policies and measures shall be introduced to promote the establishment of an effective working mechanism, and provide guidance and support to China's nuclear power projects on how to adopt independent standards during the approval of nuclear power projects.
- Making overall plans, and setting independent and unified standards. Independent and unified standards on nuclear power shall be established based on our own technologies by thoroughly addressing the technical requirements of our country's pressurized water reactor (PWR)-based nuclear power units and the requirements of other reactor types, and making full use of the engineering experiences and research achievements in our nuclear power projects; the system of nuclear power standardization shall be continuously optimized, and the level of self-reliance shall be increased.
- Providing support to international cooperation and export of nuclear power technologies. Efforts shall be made to cooperate and exchange experiences with relevant international standardization organizations, other countries and regions on a phase-to-phase and step-by-step basis, so as to keep in line with the international standards, expand the influence of China's nuclear power standards, and lend a helping hand to promote the export of our nuclear power technologies.
II. Overall Objective
A mechanism that involves the participation of relevant enterprises and public institutions and seeks to coordinate and cooperate on the work of nuclear power standardization shall be established under the guidance of the government; and a nuclear power standardization system with unified technical standards and a complete structure shall be developed to give full support to the development of nuclear power in a safe and efficient manner as well as the export of our nuclear power technologies.
In 2019, the nuclear power standardization system will be significantly enhanced, the system's framework structure be further optimized, the technical content of standards be gradually unified, and the level of self-reliance and coordination be apparently advanced, thus establishing an independent and integrated standardization system that adapts itself to the development of our country's nuclear power technologies.
In 2022, the application of standards will be remarkably strengthened. More nuclear power projects in China will adopt the independent nuclear power standards, thus helping our country's standards to exert more international influence and be highly recognized.
In 2027, China will become one of the strongest countries in nuclear power standardization and play a leading role in the field of nuclear power standardization throughout the world.
III. Key Tasks
1. Strengthening independent innovation and optimizing the nuclear power standardization system
(1) Advancing the self-reliance level of our standards. Efforts shall be made to improve the independence of our nuclear power standards on the basis of summarizing and integrating our experiences in nuclear power technologies and the achievements in our scientific researches. Starting from the mechanical equipment of nuclear islands, we shall focus our energy on specific researches of an integrated technical roadmap of standards, take into comprehensive consideration the aspects of safety, cost-efficiency, industrial basis and supervision system of our nuclear power projects, strengthen verification through experiments and tests, and develop our country's independent and unified standards for the mechanical equipment of nuclear islands.
(2) Optimizing the structure of standardization system. Measures shall be taken to promote the construction of a standardization system focusing on general standards and supplemented by specialized standards, increase the level of coordination and self-consistency of the standardization system, and reinforce the completeness and supporting nature of standard applications. The standards shall be compiled with a general catalogue and in separate volumes for the convenience of users.
(3) Improving the quality of standards. Efforts shall be made to accelerate the establishment of a dynamic management mechanism for the nuclear power standards of the energy industry, sort out and analyze the quality and applicability of the existing nuclear power standards, and strengthen the formulation and revision of the standards, so as to meet the international requirements for the quality of standards, and satisfy the actual needs in the implementation and application of standards.
2. Enhancing the policy guidance and promoting the application of nuclear power standards
(4) Giving more policy support. Relevant systems on the approval and supervision of nuclear power projects shall be improved, with the percentage of nuclear power projects adopting independent standards as one of the important indicators for project approval. More policies will be introduced to support the research on and application of independent standards.
(5) Encouraging the recognition of standards. A recognition system of nuclear safety-related standards shall be improved to optimize procedures, innovate patterns, and increase efficiency, thus creating favorable conditions for the application and implementation of China's nuclear power standards.
(6) Strengthening the publicity and implementation. The publicity and implementation work on nuclear power standards shall be carried out through multiple channels and on various fronts in the forms of presentations, trainings and technical exchanges. A feedback platform shall be established on the implementation of standards, a feedback mechanism shall be optimized and conducted, and a healthy and virtuous circle in which the standards are improved through implementation and feedback shall be created.
3. Deepening international cooperation and expanding the international influence of nuclear power standards
(7) Pushing forward the cooperation with trade partners in nuclear power standardization. Efforts shall be made to strengthen the research on the industry policies, supervision system and standardization system of nuclear power trade partners, promote the establishment of bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms, and effectively reinforce the connections between standards and polices and rules.
(8) Intensifying the cooperation with international standardization organizations. We shall take an active part in activities held by international standardization organizations and play a bigger role in the work of international standardization. The technical exchanges and cooperation on standardization with strong nuclear power countries shall be strengthened, so as to promote mutual recognition and joint development of standards, and technical exchanges on standards, and to help our nuclear power standards exert more international influence and be recognized in a more broadly manner.
4. Improving the capacity building, and supporting the long-term development of nuclear power standardization
(9) Enhancing the informatization level. A comprehensive plan shall be made to establish an information technology-based working platform for nuclear power standards, make effective use of the existing platform, encourage the integration of nuclear power standardization with informatization, increase the efficiency in nuclear power standardization, improve the sharing of nuclear power standards, expand the services of nuclear power standardization, and provide better service quality in nuclear power standardization.
(10) Attaching great importance to the team building. More efforts shall be made to establish nuclear power standardization organizations, attract and foster talented personnel in standardization, recruit a wide range of experts and specialists in nuclear power technologies, and introduce top-caliber technicians from abroad.
5. Conducting related researches, and improving the independence and innovation of standards
(11) Conducting comprehensive scientific researches on standardization. In combination with China's industrial basis and current research conditions, we shall carry out necessary experiments, researches and verifications based on key performance indicators, and enhance the self-reliance of our nuclear power standards. We shall also analyze and compare advanced nuclear power standards from abroad, summarize the differences between our nuclear power standards and those of foreign countries, and further improve the self-consistency, completeness and advanced nature of our country's nuclear power standards. In addition, we shall encourage the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, turn technical innovations into standards in good time, and promote the spreading and application of new technologies.
IV. Organization and Implementation
1. Establishing a sound mechanism and strengthening organization and implementation
A mechanism shall be established to lead and coordinate the work of nuclear power standardization, and more efforts shall be put on overall coordination, supervision and implementation in the aspects of policy guidance, resource guarantee, and advancement in collaboration. Discussion meetings shall be held on an irregular basis to elaborate on, formulate and refine policies and measures, propose specific working plans and annual tasks, engage in and coordinate the planning, policy-making, special projects, and “going abroad” work related to the nuclear power standardization, in an effort to provide a strong guarantee to the standardization work.
2. Providing government guidance and forming a unified force of policies
Relevant government departments shall issue policies in a timely manner, and organize and support the industrial players to form a unified force in the work of nuclear power standardization. The National Energy Administration shall give stronger support to the work of nuclear power standardization, strengthen the top-level design for nuclear power standardization, and promote the integration of nuclear power standards; during the approval of nuclear power projects, the percentage of independent nuclear power standards shall be adopted, and the implementation and application of independent nuclear power standards shall be facilitated. The Standardization Administration shall proactively promote the construction of a nuclear power standardization system to encourage international cooperation on nuclear power standards, and support the creation of independent brands in the standardization of nuclear power. The National Nuclear Safety Administration shall play an active role in supporting and encouraging the adoption of independent nuclear power standards, carrying out the work of recognizing relevant nuclear safety standards, innovating the means of recognition, and improving the efficiency of recognition. The State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, the National Energy Administration, and the Standardization Administration shall, according to their respective duties and responsibilities, promote the formulation of relevant standards, such as nuclear fuels, spent fuels, nuclear security, and nuclear emergency response. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall encourage and support the research work on nuclear power standards. The Ministry of Finance shall make an overall plan in using the current funding channels to provide sufficient funds to the construction of nuclear power standardization.
3. Providing relevant support from enterprises and improving the industrial capability
Nuclear power enterprises and research institutions shall put emphasis on the work of nuclear power standardization, undertake the tasks of establishing, revising and conducting researches on standards, and adopt the independent nuclear power standards in an active manner; and increase the weight of standardization work on professional assessment, performance examination, and selection of excellent individuals, and encourage employees to take an active part in the work of nuclear power standardization.
4. Providing capital support and ensuring the smooth operation
All relevant entities shall increase the funds to the work of nuclear power standardization; all nuclear power groups shall provide active support in preparing the funds; efforts shall be made to guide and encourage social forces to participate in the standardization work; the funds for the standardization work shall be prepared through multiple channels, so as to provide effective guarantee to the work of nuclear power standardization.
General Office of the State Council
July 23, 2018