Financial Services Association, January 2. In early trading today, the nuclear energy and nuclear power sector collectively rose. As of press release, Changfu shares had risen and stopped 30CM, Baose shares had risen more than 14%, and China Southern Road Machinery, Sunway shares, Libert, and Heduan had intelligently risen and stopped.

According to news, on December 29, the Controlled Nuclear Fusion Future Industry Promotion Conference with the theme of “Nuclear Power Sails for the Future of Fusion” was held in Rong, and the Controlled Nuclear Fusion Innovation Consortium composed of 25 state-owned enterprises, research institutes, universities, etc. was officially announced. Controlled nuclear fusion is the only way to solve humanity's ultimate energy problem, and it is also of great strategic importance for the construction of the national defense industry. Huge commercial value+strategic value has driven the overall acceleration of controlled nuclear fusion in terms of technology, industry, capital, etc. The conference said that since this year, the State Council's State-owned Assets Administration Commission has initiated actions to launch future industries, making it clear that the field of controlled nuclear fusion is the only direction for future energy.

Furthermore, on December 29, the National Standing Committee decided to approve the Guangdong Taipingling and Zhejiang Jinqimen nuclear power projects. The conference emphasized the need to further increase support for the innovation and development of the nuclear power industry and comprehensively enhance the competitiveness of nuclear power equipment and related industries. China Merchants Securities said that since 2019, China's nuclear power approval has been accelerated. From 2020 to 2022, 4 units, 5 units, and 10 units were approved, respectively, and a high approval volume of 10 units was maintained in 2023, which once again shows that the policy's support for nuclear power development has strengthened. It is expected to maintain an annual approval rhythm of 6 to 10 units for some time to come. Assuming that the investment amount for a single 1.2 million kilowatt unit is 20 billion yuan, which will bring an average annual construction investment of 120 billion to 200 billion yuan, the entire nuclear power industry chain is expected to usher in a boom cycle.

Nuclear power is a green energy source. It has advantages such as high economy, environmental friendliness, and stable power generation. Building nuclear power is an important way to achieve “carbon neutrality.”

CITIC Securities pointed out that domestic nuclear power unit projects have been approved at an accelerated pace since 2022. Among them, 10 nuclear power units were approved in 2022 and 2023, respectively, reaching a record high in the past ten years. At the same time, the capacity of single units all exceeded 1,200 MW. This reflects the importance that the country attaches to the development of the nuclear power industry. It is expected that the average number of nuclear power units approved per year will reach about 10 units in the next 3 to 5 years.

According to statistics from the China Nuclear Energy Industry Association, it often takes 6-8 years for a single nuclear power unit from approval to commencement of construction to operation, but the bidding-delivery-acceptance period for component companies is generally 3-5 years, so we expect to carry out centralized delivery and acceptance of equipment for the 6 nuclear power units that were centrally built before 2020 in 2024. According to data from the China Nuclear Energy Industry Association, 54 domestic nuclear power main equipment units were delivered in 2022, of which 17 steam generators were delivered, accounting for more than 30%. It is one of the most valuable investments in nuclear power unit equipment. On the premise that the number of approved units remains stable, core spare parts companies such as pressure vessels, special motors, valves, steam generators, and fuel transport containers may usher in a period of performance harvest.

The agency said that in 2023, as the “first year” of controlled nuclear fusion development in China, as high-temperature superconducting technology continues to break through, it is expected that ignition conditions for magnetic-restrained fusion devices will be greatly improved. 2024 may usher in centralized project bidding, which will facilitate large-scale orders from core component manufacturers such as high-temperature superconducting magnets, polarizers, vacuum chambers, radio frequency power supplies, etc.; for more mature third-generation nuclear power units, 2024 is expected to usher in a centralized component delivery and verification period, which will benefit the continuous release of core component manufacturer orders and performance under continuous and stable approval guarantees. Complete commercialization After the operation, various subsequent developments are also worth looking forward to. It is recommended to focus on suppliers of core components for nuclear fusion and nuclear fission.

According to an analysis by Guosheng Securities, a total of 10 nuclear power units were approved in 2023. In 2022, the country also approved 10 nuclear power units that year. For the first time, China approved 10 units for two consecutive years, indicating that China's nuclear power has entered a stage of accelerated development. Currently, mainland China currently has 55 nuclear power units in operation and 32 nuclear power units approved and under construction. We expect nuclear power to continue the rapid development trend in the future according to the normalized approval of 6-10 units per year. It is recommended to focus on the two leading nuclear power companies, China Nuclear Power, and China General Nuclear Power.