Dear Mr. Chair,

The Chinese delegation has carefully studied the Report on Strengthening the Agency's Activities related to Nuclear Science, Technology and Applications and associates itself with the statement made by the distinguished Ambassador of Costa Rica on behalf of the Group of 77 and China under this agenda item.

Mr. Chair,

Over the past year, the Agency has continued to uphold its mission of "Atoms for Peace and Development", promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and the application of nuclear science and technology worldwide, actively assisting the member states to adopt nuclear and nuclear derivative technologies to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been widely acknowledged by the member states.

In the area of nuclear energy, the Agency has participated in the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), published the Nuclear Energy for a Net Zero World and organized events such as the Net Zero Challenge to promote the important role of nuclear energy in addressing climate change and achieving net-zero emissions, and to raise global awareness of the importance of nuclear energy development. On the other hand, the Agency has actively coordinated member countries to strengthen technical exchanges in nuclear energy,  nuclear fuel cycle, radioactive waste management and decommissioning of nuclear facilities, and in particular, has actively helped emerging nuclear power countries to strengthen their capacity building, making positive contributions to raising the level of the global nuclear energy development. In the area of nuclear technology applications, the Agency has provided more than 2,000 batches of anti-pandemic supplies to 129 countries and regions, which has strongly supported global efforts to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. It launched important initiatives such as "NUTEC Plastics” and "Rays of Hope", and strengthened cooperation with other international organizations such as UNEP and WHO to contribute to the use of nuclear technology to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The Chinese delegation acknowledges the hard work and achievements of the Agency’s Secretariat over the past year.

Mr. Chair,

China is committed to the active, safe and orderly development of nuclear power. Nuclear energy is considered as an important option to assure energy security, deal with climate change and achieving the target of achieving carbon peak and zero-emissions. As of June 2022, China has 54 nuclear power generation units in operation and 23 under construction on the mainland. "Hualong-1", China's independent third-generation nuclear power technology, has started construction of 14 units worldwide, four of which have been fully completed and put into operation. The fourth-generation high-temperature gas-cooled reactor demonstration project has been connected to the grid. Hainan Changjiang "Linglong-1" multi-purpose modular small reactor technology demonstration project has started construction. The construction of the fast reactor demonstration project has started. The research and development of key technologies for advanced nuclear energy systems, such as lead-cooled fast reactors and molten salt reactors, has made new breakthroughs. The full superconducting tokamak nuclear fusion experimental device has successfully achieved 1056 seconds of plasma operation. The world's first hard rock tunnel boring machine with a large gradient, one of the key equipment required for the construction of the underground laboratory for high discharge waste at Beishan, has been completed.

Mr. Chair,

In the past year, China's nuclear technology application industry has continued to maintain high speed growth and been widely applied in areas such as agriculture, environment protection, industry, human health, waste treatment. In particular, outstanding achievements have been made in mutation breeding, sterile insect technology for mosquito vector prevention and control, and the use of electron beam to treat industrial wastewater and medical waste, which have produced distinctive social and economic results. In May 2021, the Chinese government released the Medium and Long-term Development Plan for Medical Isotopes (2021- 2035), approved the establishment of the National Engineering Research Centre for Isotopes and Drugs in October of the same year, and launched the construction of two isotope production reactors. China is actively promoting the development of nuclear technology applications and cooperation in its own region. From 16 to 18 September, China will host the first China-ASEAN Forum on Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technology, where officials and experts from various countries will conduct full exchanges and discussions on five major areas of nuclear technology applications. China has also worked closely with the Agency to establish collaborating centres for nuclear technology applications in areas of nuclear agriculture, insect sterility technology and medical isotopes, and will continue to support the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme.

Mr. Chair,

President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Development Initiative when attending the general debate of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, calling for the accelerated implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and promoting a more robust, green and healthy global development. Nuclear energy and nuclear technologies play an indispensable role in advancing green and low-carbon development and attaining the 2030 SDGs. China is willing to continuously deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with the Agency and its member states, share development experiences and best practices and achieve common development.

With these comments, the Chinese delegation took note of the Report on Strengthening the Agency's Activities Related to Nuclear Science, Technology and Applications, as contained in document GOV/2022/30.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.