/ world today news/ A report published by the China Nuclear Energy Association on May 24 calls for the application of nuclear technology to be elevated into China’s national strategy and integrated into the general plan for national economic and social development.
“Conservative estimates indicate that the output value of China’s nuclear technology applications industry will exceed 700 billion yuan ($99 billion) by the end of 2022, with an average annual growth rate remaining above 15 percent,” Zhang Tingke said. – vice chairman and secretary general of the association on Wednesday at the International Conference on the Application of Nuclear Technology, which began in Haiyan, East China’s Zhejiang Province. China’s nuclear technology applications industry will play a bigger and more important role in promoting new industrialization, in building a strong manufacturing country, transportation network and a healthy, safe and beautiful China. The domestic application of nuclear technology has huge development potential in the future and is expected to reach a market size of one trillion yuan by 2025, Zhang added.
The China Nuclear Technology Application Industry Development Report (2023), which was released at the conference, calls for the application of nuclear technology to be elevated into a national strategy and integrated into the overall national economic and social development plan. The report said that ordinary people’s “clothing, food, shelter and transport” have greatly benefited from the use of nuclear technology, which is the “hero behind the scenes” and is now “inseparable” from human existence. As a modern high-tech industry, nuclear technology is mainly used in fields such as nuclear agriculture, industrial nuclear technology, medical nuclear technology, space and geonuclear technology, environmental protection and social security, the report further showed.
“During the COVID-19 epidemic, nuclear technology also played an important role in the fight against the epidemic through radiation sterilization, saving lives and blessing humanity,” said the association’s vice-president Zhang Tinke. The report also mentions that “millions of medical protective suits, masks, helmets and goggles have been sterilized by radiation and used in the clinical fight against COVID-19, buying precious time to save lives.”
In the future, combined with the technologies of cloud computing, big data, deep learning, immunology, molecular biology and other disciplines, nuclear technology is expected to become a strategic source of new technologies. Nuclear applications can also be deeply embedded in integrated circuits, biomedicine, advanced structural materials, new functional materials and railway equipment to help strengthen the country’s emerging industries.
Stronger nuclear technology will also contribute to China building a strong, safe and beautiful country. Radiation analysis technology has been used as an effective method of screening and detecting all types of hidden contraband.
In response to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Ray of Hope initiative, some state-owned enterprises have taken the initiative to help low- and middle-income developing countries improve cancer diagnosis and treatment capacity. A full set of customs security clearance equipment, electronic accelerators for industrial irradiation, an integrated cobalt-60 irradiation device and other products have been exported to the Belt and Road Initiative countries.
But China faces various challenges in the development of nuclear technology, noted Zhang Tingke. The country’s R&D capabilities in this regard are relatively weak and some key basic technologies are highly dependent on foreign imports. Compared with developed countries in Europe and the United States, the production value of the nuclear technology application industry in China’s GDP is still at a low level.
According to the report released by the China Nuclear Energy Association on May 24, more than 150 countries and regions in the world have carried out nuclear technology research, development and application scenarios. The nuclear technology application industry in developed countries has already achieved a mature business model. The output value of closely related industries in these countries now amounts to more than 2 percent of their GDP, which is quite high. By comparison, the value of nuclear technology applications in the United States reached $600 billion, which is about 3 percent of its GDP, while the percentage in Japan, South Korea, Sweden, and major European Union countries ranged from 2 to 3 percent.
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