Policy and licensing / China

China: SMR policy and licensing

Selected federal, state, territory, and national measures whose official text was opened. This is not a complete list of laws, rules or programmes for any jurisdiction. A jurisdiction without a page here is not a finding that it has no policy, and these pages do not rate or prefer any jurisdiction. Nothing here implies that a project is eligible for, or approved under, any measure.

Laws, rules and executive directives

• China: Atomic Energy Law of the People's Republic of China (2025) · In effect
  中华人民共和国原子能法 (Atomic Energy Law of the PRC); adopted 12 September 2025 at the 17th session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress; in force 15 January 2026 (Article 62) · Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (全国人民代表大会常务委员会) · affects: National reactor licensing, State programme administration
  China's Atomic Energy Law took effect on 15 January 2026. It assigns atomic energy management to the State Council's nuclear industry, energy and nuclear safety departments, says the state encourages and supports advanced reactors, and requires State Council approval of nuclear power plant construction projects, while leaving siting, construction and operation to the nuclear safety licensing laws. It does not approve or fund any project.
  Not approved or pending: The national nuclear power development plan and State Council project approvals made under Article 28 were not reviewed; the statute names no project, design or site. Implementing measures and the policy-support provisions of Article 6 (finance and tax support under state rules) were not traced to any programme.
• China: Nuclear Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (2017) · In effect
  中华人民共和国核安全法 (Nuclear Safety Law of the PRC); adopted 1 September 2017 at the 29th session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress; in force 1 January 2018 (Article 94) · Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (全国人民代表大会常务委员会) · affects: National reactor licensing, Siting
  China's Nuclear Safety Law (in force since 1 January 2018) requires operators to obtain licences from the State Council's nuclear safety regulator for siting, construction, operation and decommissioning of nuclear facilities, including a site selection review opinion, a construction licence of up to ten years and an operating licence for the design life. It also requires planning restricted zones around nuclear power plants. It is a framework statute, not a project permission.
  Not approved or pending: Implementing administrative regulations, NNSA siting and design safety regulations and the planning restricted-zone decisions of individual provinces were not reviewed. Whether the statute has been amended since 2017 was checked only against the NPC page. It licenses nothing by itself; project licences are separate regulator decisions.
• China: Safety licensing procedure for nuclear power plants, research reactors and fuel cycle facilities (MEE Order No. 8, 2019) · In effect
  核动力厂、研究堆、核燃料循环设施安全许可程序规定, 生态环境部令第8号 (MEE Order No. 8); adopted 11 July 2019; published 26 August 2019; in force 1 October 2019 · Ministry of Ecology and Environment (生态环境部); applications are decided by the National Nuclear Safety Administration (国家核安全局) · affects: Siting, National reactor licensing
  China's 2019 safety licensing procedure rule sets how operators apply to the National Nuclear Safety Administration for a site selection review opinion and for construction, operation and decommissioning licences. It allows a combined siting and construction application for some research reactors and for factory-built floating or mobile nuclear power units on an already approved site. It is a procedure rule, not a project permission.
  Not approved or pending: Technical siting criteria in NNSA safety regulations and standards were not reviewed, and later amendments to this rule were not checked. The combined-application route depends on a prior NNSA approval of the site; no floating or mobile unit is identified by the rule.

Bills, proposed rules and consultations

• None recorded in this pilot.

Funding and support programmes

• None recorded in this pilot.

Recorded applications and decisions for tracked projects and designs in China

Project and design permissions are separate from the general measures above.

Site applications and decisions

• NNSA site-selection review opinion No. 2414, Haiyang integrated small reactor demonstration — Shandong Haiyang integrated small reactor demonstration project (heat only)
  Site permission · Issued / approved · NNSA · decided 10 Sep 2024
  The National Nuclear Safety Administration issued its site-selection review opinion (国核安证字第2414号) on 10 September 2024 for one 200 MWt integrated natural-circulation small PWR at the Haiyang plant. A siting review opinion approves the site stage only; it is not a construction licence or an operating licence, and none had been issued by September 2026.
  Sources: NNSA: site-selection review opinion No. 2414 for the Shandong Haiyang integrated small reactor demonstration project (10 September 2024)

Construction applications and decisions

• NNSA construction licence 国核安证字第2117号 for the Hainan Changjiang multi-purpose modular small reactor demonstration project (Linglong One) — Linglong One (ACP100) Changjiang
  Construction permission · Issued / approved · NNSA · decided 1 Jul 2021 · permit 国核安证字第2117号
  NNSA issued construction licence 国核安证字第2117号 on 1 July 2021, valid to 30 June 2031, after reviewing the construction application and inspecting readiness for the first nuclear-island concrete. The licence names 中核海南核电有限公司 and 海南核电有限公司 jointly as the operating organizations. IAEA PRIS reports a different construction-licence date, 15 July 2019; the licence document carries 1 July 2021, so the PRIS date is kept visible as a conflicting statement and is not treated as the licence date. This is a construction licence, not an operating licence.
  Sources: NNSA construction licence 国核安证字第2117号: Hainan Changjiang modular small reactor demonstration project (Linglong One)
• NNSA construction-licence review for Xuwei Phase I Unit 3 (HTGR) — Xuwei nuclear heating and power plant Unit 3 (HTGR)
  Construction permission sought · Under review · NNSA
  China's nuclear regulator reported on 26 June 2025 that it had started the construction-licence review for Unit 3 of the Xuwei nuclear heating and power plant, covering the preliminary safety analysis report and the construction-stage environmental impact report, with CNNC Sueneng Nuclear Power presenting the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor. The notice gives no filing day and no licence decision. The 9 October 2026 pre-construction inspection report found that preparations met the conditions for issuing a construction licence and set seven corrective requirements; it does not itself issue the licence.
  Sources: NNSA: Xuwei nuclear heating and power plant Phase I Unit 3 construction licence review launched; NNSA: Xuwei Unit 3 pre-construction inspection report

Operating-licence applications and decisions

• TMSR-LF1 operating licence 2307 — TMSR-LF1 thorium molten-salt experimental reactor, Wuwei
  Operating authority · Issued / approved · NNSA · decided 7 Jun 2023 · docket 国, 核, 安, 证, 字, 第, 2, 3, 0, 7, 号
  NNSA issued operating licence 国核安证字第2307号 to SINAP on 7 June 2023, expiring 6 June 2033. The instrument includes separate commissioning hold points; it does not prove their release.
  Sources: NNSA: TMSR-LF1 operating licence 2307
• NNSA operating licence for the Shidaowan HTR-PM demonstration — HTR-PM Shidaowan demonstration
  Operating authority · Issued / approved · NNSA · decided 20 Aug 2021 · permit 国核安证字第2119号
  NNSA issued operating licence 国核安证字第2119号 on 20 August 2021 for the high-temperature gas-cooled demonstration (CN-44) at Ningjin Town, Rongcheng, Shandong. The holder and operating organization is Huaneng Shandong Shidao Bay Nuclear Power Company, Ltd. Validity runs through 19 August 2061. First fuel loading is the start of operation. Condition 23 sets control points at 15 percent and 65 percent of plant rated electrical power and states no megawatt number. The legal representative named on the licence is not stored.
  Sources: NNSA operating licence for the Shidaowan high-temperature gas-cooled demonstration (Guohe Anzheng Zi No. 2119); NNSA operating-unit database: Shidaowan high-temperature gas-cooled demonstration
• HTR-10 operating licence issued in 2014, valid through June 2024 — HTR-10 high-temperature gas-cooled test reactor, Tsinghua INET
  Operating authority · Issued / approved · NNSA · decided 15 Jul 2014 · permit 国核安证字1405号
  NNSA notice 国核安发〔2014〕158号, dated 15 July 2014, issued operating licence 国核安证字1405号 to Tsinghua University's Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology for the 10 MW high-temperature gas-cooled experimental reactor. The licence is valid through 30 June 2024. Continued operation after that date requires a new application twelve months before expiry. No successor instrument was opened. The extracted licence pages do not print a separate issue date; the decision-letter date is used. Personal names on the licence are not stored.
  Sources: NNSA notice issuing the HTR-10 operating licence (Guohe Anfa [2014] No. 158); NNSA operating licence for HTR-10 (Guohe Anzheng Zi No. 1405)
• NNSA first fuel loading licence for HTR-10 — HTR-10 high-temperature gas-cooled test reactor, Tsinghua INET
  Operating authority · Issued / approved · NNSA · decided 2000
  Reported in NNSA's own 2014 letter attachment; the 2000 licence instrument itself was not opened, so no licence number.
  Sources: NNSA: letter on the HTR-10 operating licence (Guohe Anhan [2014] No. 25)

Environmental decision

• MEE siting-stage environmental impact report approval for Xuwei Phase I (including the HTR-PM600S unit) — Xuwei nuclear heating and power plant Unit 3 (HTGR)
  Environmental decision · Issued / approved · MEE · decided 17 Apr 2024
  The Ministry of Ecology and Environment approved the siting-stage environmental impact report for Xuwei Phase I on 17 April 2024 (环审〔2024〕43号). The approval describes Phase I as two Hualong One pressurized-water units and one HTR-PM600S high-temperature gas-cooled reactor unit with supporting facilities at Xizoushan, Xuwei New Area, Lianyungang. It is an environmental decision for the siting stage covering the whole Phase I project, of which Unit 3 is the HTGR; it is not a construction licence. The Hualong One units are outside SMRMap's scope.
  Sources: MEE approval of the Jiangsu Xuwei nuclear heating plant Phase I environmental impact report (siting stage), 环审〔2024〕43号

Other applications and decisions

• NNSA approval of the Xuwei HTGR safety design criteria — Xuwei nuclear heating and power plant Unit 3 (HTGR)
  Other regulatory action · Issued / approved · NNSA · decided 31 Aug 2026
  NNSA instrument 国核安发〔2026〕161号, signed 31 August 2026, approves B-version safety design criteria for the Xuwei HTGR. Its later 29 September announcement describes a small nuclear power reactor with multiple modules and one turbine. The criteria guide safety review and are not a construction licence.
  Sources: NNSA: safety design criteria for the Xuwei high-temperature gas-cooled reactor; NNSA: Xuwei HTGR safety design criteria approval, instrument 161

What this review has read for China

As of 18 Oct 2026. Bounded review concluded. A bounded review of three national source classes, not a complete list of laws, rules or programmes. Coverage for every reviewed country.

• Controlling reactor licensing framework: Evidence read. The Nuclear Safety Law (in force 1 January 2018) and the Atomic Energy Law (adopted 12 September 2025, in force 15 January 2026) were read on the National People's Congress website; the national law database page returned no readable text.
• Siting restrictions or rules: Evidence read. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment's 2019 safety licensing procedure rule (site selection review and the combined route for factory-built floating or mobile units) was read; the Nuclear Safety Law's siting and restricted-zone articles are counted under the licensing class, and NNSA technical siting regulations were not opened.
• Directly relevant support measures: Evidence read. The NDRC plan for the new energy system in the 15th Five-Year Plan period names small-reactor technology research and advanced-reactor demonstration but no programme budget, project or site, so no record is proposed; the 15th Five-Year Plan Outline itself was not opened, and the Atomic Energy Law's support article is counted under the licensing class.

Sources read (4):

• www.npc.gov.cn/npc/c2/c12435/201905/t20190521_275317.html · checked 2026-10-18
• www.npc.gov.cn/npc/c2/c30834/202509/t20250912_447757.html · checked 2026-10-18
• www.mee.gov.cn/xxgk2018/xxgk/xxgk02/201909/t20190902_731363.html · checked 2026-10-18
• www.ndrc.gov.cn/xxgk/zcfb/tz/202606/P020260625612978907651.pdf · checked 2026-10-18

Sources that could not be read (1):

• flk.npc.gov.cn/ · checked 2026-10-18 · not readable: no readable text