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Aug 27, 2026 - HTR-PM: How China`s Shidaowan Gen 4 nuclear reactor works



On 6 December 2023, the Shidaowan plant in Shandong became the world`s first gen IV nuclear power station in commercial operation, using helium instead of water and 60-millimetre graphite fuel pebbles instead of fuel rods. A few months earlier its engineers had deliberately cut all cooling power to both reactors to see whether the core would melt, and it did not, settling into a stable state on its own after about 36 hours. We looked at how the machine works, and at what the headlines around it leave out.